My mom eyed me with deep suspicion. “The neighbor’s kid, Tommy, goes to the exact same college as you. How come he isn’t heading back to campus a week early?” I rubbed my hands together, sweating bullets. “You’re going back early to see a boy, aren’t you? Look, I’m not some old-fashioned prude. Here’s an extra three hundred bucks. Go have fun.” I accepted the cash with profound gratitude. “You are so right, Mom. So right!” My mom completely bought it. On the Amtrak train back to campus, I pulled out my brand-new, untouched Physics 101 textbook and started frantically copying down formulas, scratching my head in despair. See a boy? Hell no. I was going back early to take a makeup exam! While I was literally on my way to the exam hall, a FaceTime call from my mom popped up. “Harper, honey! Let Mom get a look at this new boyfriend of yours.” 1 I was dead. The only new thing I was getting today was a new failing grade. I definitely didn’t have a new boyfriend to show her! Driven by pure desperation, I randomly aimed my phone camera at a stranger walking past me on the sidewalk. “Mom, this is the reason I came back to school early,” I whispered into the mic. When I lie to my mom, I fully commit to the bit. I had only planned to use the stranger’s side profile to appease her. But despite how softly I spoke, the gorgeous guy in the frame actually turned his head and looked at the camera. Through the phone, my mom shrieked. “He’s so handsome?! Are you dating a movie star?! Bring him home this weekend!” “Gotta go, honey! I’m taking screenshots to show off to my book club, hahahaha!” The video call abruptly ended on my mom’s exaggerated, booming laughter. Leaving me and the handsome stranger standing in the wind, staring at each other. The guy had perfect posture and a sharp, breathtakingly handsome jawline. Absolute god-tier looks. I scratched my head and let out an awkward laugh. “I’m so sorry. I was too embarrassed to tell my parents I came back early for a makeup exam, so I lied and said I was coming back to see a boyfriend.” The handsome guy nodded in understanding. He actually matched my pace and started walking with me. Clearly, we were heading to the same building. I shifted into a light jog to keep up and struck up a conversation. “Hey, are you taking the Physics makeup exam too?” The guy didn’t say a word, just kept walking forward. I noticed he wasn’t carrying a backpack or any study materials. It was obvious he was an honest student—but Physics 101 was brutally hard. Going in without cheating? He was guaranteed to fail! A brilliant idea struck me. “Bro, how about this? I’m locked and loaded with cheat sheets. I’ve transcribed almost every single formula. I’ll share my guaranteed-to-pass cheating tips with you, and in exchange, you come home with me this weekend to meet my parents.” The moment I said that, he stopped in his tracks. Seeing that he was intrigued, I officially began my entry-level cheating tutorial! I pulled out the “tissue-paper study guide” from my pocket. Then, I reached into my knee-high socks and produced a ten-fold formula accordion. And the ultimate weapon—my phone! The handsome guy looked confused. “How are you getting a phone into the exam hall? The proctors always use metal detector wands.” I smiled like a genius. “Heh. They only scan the body. If you hold the phone flat against your palm while you raise your arms, they never find it! Plus, my phone folds!” “What about the signal jammers?” “The ancient jammers our school uses can’t even block a 5G signal. My service works perfectly in there.” The guy nodded thoughtfully, then asked with genuine curiosity: “If you have so many brilliant methods, how did you fail the final exam in the first place?” I waved my hand dismissively and patted his broad shoulder. “Let us not dwell on past failures. We must look to the future!” When we got to the classroom, I spotted my fellow struggling friends. Perfect. Our academic survival squad was assembled. But I didn’t forget the handsome stranger I had just met. I quickly pulled him into our circle. The girls took one look at his suffocatingly good looks and instantly agreed to let him join. Everyone started enthusiastically sharing their cheat sheets and coordinating how we were going to pass answers under the proctor’s nose. The handsome guy must have been deeply moved by my generosity. He even asked for the names of everyone in our survival squad. I raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a look that said, No need to thank me. A true wingwoman always looks out for her bros. He’d remember this favor for the rest of his life. 2 Ten minutes left until the exam. Everyone was fully prepped and locked in. The only thing missing was the proctor, who was running late. My best friend, Zoe, started dishing the gossip on our invigilator. “I heard the proctor for our room is a literal god from Apex University. He’s a second-year PhD student, ridiculously hot—like, better looking than celebrities. He’s only proctoring at our college today to do a favor for a friend.” “Apparently, he’s a research genius. He hasn’t even graduated yet, and research labs from both Apex and our school are fighting over him. They’re already offering him seven-figure salaries.” Lexi, another girl in our group, slammed her hand on the desk in regret. “Damn it! If I had known, I would have worn a full face of makeup today.” “Ugh, we’re gonna have to be super careful cheating with a guy like that.” “Don’t worry about it!” I reassured them. “A golden boy like him has never seen the kind of high-tech underground cheating methods we use!” … The room finally quieted down when a roaming supervisor came in to drop off the exam packets. “Hey, where is Mr. Payne? Wasn’t he already on duty?” the supervisor muttered. Mr. Payne? I turned to my friends and whispered, “What a weird name. If he’s Mr. Payne, I guess I’m Miss Pleasure.” My dirty-minded friends instantly caught the joke and started giggling uncontrollably. My face flushed hot. “I didn’t mean it like that!” But no matter how much I tried to defend myself, the damage was done. Right as everyone was still grinning like idiots, the handsome stranger from earlier—who had been sitting quietly in the corner—slowly stood up. He calmly walked to the front, accepted the stack of exam papers, pulled a staff ID badge from his pocket, and stepped up to the podium. “Hello everyone. I am your proctor for today, Carter Payne.” Wait. Excuse me? Is it too late for me to apologize by throwing myself out the window? 3 Obviously, it was too late. Forget the phones and the cheat sheets. Even the smart-watch Zoe had strapped to her ankle got confiscated. Carter Payne stated he had no malicious intentions. I agreed. He didn’t have malicious intentions. He just didn’t want us to survive. There was zero suspense. My friends and I were completely wiped out by Carter in one fell swoop. We all failed and were forced to retake the class this semester. Utterly defeated, I practically got on my knees in our group chat. “I am so sorry. I invited the wolf into our house. To make up for this, I am willing to lay down my life for you all!” Lexi replied with a “disgusted” sticker. “Stop offering us worthless trash.” Zoe immediately followed up: “Since you sincerely want to make it up to us, we will mercifully grant you a chance to redeem yourself.” I nodded like a bobblehead. “Name it. Anything.” “Carter is working as an adjunct professor at our college this semester, and he just happens to be our Physics 101 instructor. Your mission: seduce him, conquer him, wreck him! Get revenge for us, and then secure the final exam answers for this semester.” Huh? Me? What kind of delusional confidence did they have to think I could make an Apex University god look at me twice? I typed back helplessly: “Zoe, do you have a reality-distortion filter on me? How on earth am I supposed to bag a guy like that?” Zoe was supremely confident: “Based on my years of social experience, the way Carter looked at you today was absolutely not innocent. Just crook your finger, and he’ll bite the hook.” I didn’t know if his eyesight was bad, but Zoe’s eyesight was definitely broken. But things had reached a critical point. I had to try a desperate measure. Besides, I had failed the makeup exam. I absolutely could not let my parents find out that I came back to school early just to fail a test. The weekend was two days away. Time was of the essence. I had to rush over to Apex University and convince Carter to come home with me. 4 Before I left, my entire dorm worked together to paint my face in the ultimate “siren/baddie” makeup style. The head-turning rate on the street was undeniably high. Our college and Apex University were only separated by one main avenue. Carter was famous. All it took was asking a random student, and I immediately found out which dorm building he lived in. When I arrived at his building, I was genuinely shocked. Apex didn’t play around with their PhD candidates. Not only were they single rooms, but the lobby looked like a luxury apartment complex. It made me want to apply for a PhD. I was lucky. I only had to camp out in the lobby for half an hour before Carter walked in. He was wearing a crisp black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up slightly, exposing prominent, defined wrists. Unlike the casual, messy vibe he had the first time we met, today his hair looked styled. Every single strand radiated stupid amounts of handsome. I literally forgot to breathe for a second. When he dressed up, he was way too highly-visible. Every girl walking past was staring at him. “Looking for me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “How did you know?” I asked, confused. The corner of his mouth ticked up. “You’ve been squatting by the entrance for twenty-eight minutes. You ignored every other guy who walked past, and the second I came down, you stepped forward.” Playing murder mystery games with him would be terrifying. He’d solve it in five minutes. I got straight to the point. “Yes. I want you to come home with me this weekend to pretend to be my boyfriend and deal with my mom.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why should I?” “Because you used me to infiltrate my friend group, made me public enemy number one, caused me to fail my makeup exam, and now I have no way to explain to my parents why I came back early!” I snapped, getting anxious. The nerve of him to ask why! If it weren’t for him, I would have easily passed that exam, and I wouldn’t be here begging him to come home with me. He frowned slightly. “You’re cheating, and you somehow think you’re in the right?” “You—!” I licked my lips, completely unable to argue back. He was right. He was an Apex PhD student; he hadn’t done anything wrong. I had absolutely zero leverage to make him fake-date me. It seemed Zoe really was blind. There was nothing “not innocent” about the way he looked at me. Messing with him was a terrible idea. Just as Carter was turning around to leave, a clear, familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. “Harper? What are you doing here?” “Caleb?” 5 Caleb was a senior at Apex University. We met at a Greek life mixer. He had a pretty obvious crush on me. He was gentle, considerate, and polite. Which is why I had previously rejected him by claiming I was only into “cold, emotionally unavailable” men. My eyes lit up, and I quickly grabbed Caleb’s sleeve. “Caleb, are you free this weekend?” Caleb had barely opened his mouth to answer when Carter spun back around, staring at me coldly. “He’s not free.” “Huh? Professor Payne, I…” Caleb started. “Have you submitted your graduation thesis yet?” Carter asked smoothly. Speaking of his thesis, Caleb wasn’t panicked at all; he looked quite confident. “Not yet, but I’ll easily finish it by next week!” “Too late. Professor Miller wants it this Saturday. He wants you in his office on Saturday to review it.” Caleb panicked a little. “He didn’t send out an announcement.” Carter spoke calmly. “Professor Miller will notify you tonight.” Caleb nodded, then turned to me. “Well, I’m free on Sunday then!” My dimmed hopes flared back to life. “Sunday doesn’t work either,” Carter interrupted again. “The mini-essay for this module is strictly due on Sunday.” Caleb gasped. “What? Mr. Payne, you never mentioned a mini-essay!” Carter calmly pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times. “The notification has just been pushed to your student portal.” Seeing Caleb open his mouth to argue again, Carter kept going: “And the mock test that hasn’t been scheduled yet is now set for…” “I’m completely booked!!” Caleb shouted. He turned to me, looking extremely determined. “I am so sorry, Harper. I am not free this weekend. This weekend, I must study. I love studying. I’m going to go study now. Bye.” 6 “I can agree to pretend to be your boyfriend, but you have to agree to one condition.” After Caleb ran off, Carter leaned in close to me. His perfect features were suddenly magnified right in front of my face. I leaned back a few inches. “Deal! As long as you come home with me this weekend, I’ll agree to ten conditions!” “Good. My condition is that you come home with me tonight.” 7 Tonight? Come home with him? I looked down at my ultimate siren/baddie makeup, and then back up at Carter’s cold, restrained, academic face. Zoe’s words played in 3D surround sound in my head: Seduce him! Wreck him! Get the final exam answers! Could it be… I didn’t even need to initiate, and he was already biting the hook? Was this the legendary “the highest tier of hunter often appears as the prey” scenario? I swallowed hard, crossing my arms over my chest protectively, and stuttered, “Mr. Payne, although I do need your help, I have principles! Moving this fast… I-I’m not ready for this!” Carter looked at me like I was a complete moron. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What kind of garbage is floating around in your head? I meant we are going up to my apartment to sign a non-disclosure agreement and a three-point contract for the fake relationship.” “Oh…” I awkwardly lowered my arms, my toes curling so hard in my shoes I could have excavated a new basement for the Apex library. “Let’s go, then.” I followed behind him like an elementary school student called to the principal’s office. Carter didn’t take me into the dorms; instead, we walked out of the campus gates and arrived at a high-end luxury apartment building ten minutes away. The moment I stepped inside, I was stunned. It was a minimalist black, white, and gray aesthetic. Spotless hardwood floors, and abstract art pieces on the walls that were actually complex physics equations. But the most terrifying part was the massive desk in the center of the living room, piled high with foreign academic journals and scratch paper. This wasn’t a home. This was an interrogation room! “Sit,” Carter said, pointing to the chair opposite the desk. I obediently sat down and watched as he pulled a freshly printed A4 document from a drawer. Cooperation Agreement Regarding Carter Payne Acting as Harper Quinn’s Fake Boyfriend My eyes widened. “You already had this prepared? Are you a human printer?” “I printed it upstairs just now,” he said, handing me a pen. “Read the terms. If there are no issues, sign it.” I leaned in and read: [Article 1: Party B agrees to accompany Party A to her family home this weekend to act as her boyfriend and properly handle inquiries from Party A’s parents.] [Article 2: Party A must unconditionally cooperate with Party B’s established backstory during the fake relationship and must not expose the ruse.] [Article 3: In exchange, Party A’s retake of the “Physics 101” course this semester must be personally tutored by Party B. Party A is required to complete no less than 10 hours of extracurricular exercises at a location designated by Party B each week.] [Article 4: If Party A fails to score an 85 or higher on the final exam, Party B reserves the right to expose the fake boyfriend arrangement to Party A’s parents.] I slammed my hands on the desk and jumped up. “85?! You might as well kill me! I got an 18 on the makeup exam, Mr. Payne!” Carter leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, looking at me with a ghost of a smile. “What happened? Didn’t you just say you’d agree to ten conditions?” “But you can’t defy the laws of nature! Having my brain study Physics is like asking a pig to solve calculus!” “I won’t allow you to insult pigs like that.” “Carter!” “Are you signing or not?” He made a move to pull the contract back. “If you don’t sign, I’m face-timing your mom right now to tell her exactly how I confiscated your folding phone, tissue papers, and cheat sheets during the exam.” I slammed my hand down on the contract, grinding my teeth. “I’ll sign!” To avoid being murdered by my mom this weekend, I was forced to sell my soul. Carter watched with satisfaction as I signed my name, then pulled a textbook thicker than a cinderblock out from under the desk. Advanced Physics Problem Set. “Since you signed, let’s execute Article 3 right now. You can’t go back to your dorm until you finish chapter one.” I looked at that brick of a book, my vision going dark. Seduce him, wreck him… I chanted Zoe’s battle cry in my head, and with tears of grief, I opened the first page. The result was that Physics wrecked me for three solid hours. It wasn’t until 11:00 PM that I dragged my drained, empty husk of a soul out of Carter’s apartment. As I left, he leaned against the doorframe and instructed, “Tomorrow after class, I’ll pick you up from your campus, and we’ll head to the Amtrak station.” I waved weakly. “Got it, boyfriend.” He froze for a second, the tips of his ears turning suspiciously red, and then slam! he shut the door. Tch. What a prude.

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I was just brought back to my wealthy biological family. But the moment I stepped foot into the house, the fake daughter threw herself into our parents’ arms, sobbing. “Dad, Mom, please forgive me, but I really can’t accept calling her my sister.” “She’s the transfer student who spread rumors about me at school and gave me depression!” Mom held the fake daughter, comforting her with a heartbroken expression. Dad was furious, looking at me with absolute disappointment. “I can’t believe leaving you out there for a few years turned you into such a delinquent!” “Butler, throw her out! The Vance family doesn’t have a daughter who bullies others!” I stood there, completely dumbfounded. My hands were signing so fast they looked like a blur. “I spread rumors about her?” “But I’m literally mute!” Chapter 1 I stood in the foyer, my fingertips still numb from the freezing wind outside. Chloe Vance was buried in my parents’ arms, crying so hard she could barely catch her breath. She hid her face in Mom’s neck, her shoulders trembling violently. When she finally looked up, the corners of her eyes were flushed red. “Dad, Mom, you don’t know what she did.” “When I got second place in our grade on the midterms, she went around telling everyone I cheated. She said Dad bribed the teachers, and that I slept with the Dean of Students to secure my Ivy League recommendation…” With every word she choked out, Mom patted her back a little harder, and Dad’s brow furrowed deeper. I opened my mouth, but only faint, breathy rasps came out. I haven’t been able to speak since I was a toddler. The doctors said my vocal cords were irreparably damaged. Over the years, I had gotten used to communicating entirely through sign language and a notepad. I raised my hands, my fingers just about to sign “That’s not true,” when my biological brother, Connor, abruptly stood up from the sofa. He closed the distance between us in three long strides, glaring down at me. The disgust in his eyes practically spilled over. “Clara, how long are you going to keep up this act? Chloe is severely depressed because of you, and you still want to make excuses?” I froze, my fingers stalling mid-air. Connor was the only son of the Vance family. From the moment I walked in, he had been fiercely protecting Chloe, his gaze full of tenderness whenever he looked at her. But the way he looked at me was like looking at trash on the bottom of his shoe. “Connor, please don’t speak to my sister like that…” Chloe tugged at Connor’s sleeve, her voice soft and fragile, yet every word felt like a needle driving into my heart. “Maybe Clara just really wants to fit into this family, and she used the wrong method to get our attention. I don’t blame her, I really don’t…” “You’re just too kindhearted!” Mom immediately hugged her tighter, then turned to me, her eyes as cold as ice. “Clara, we brought you back so you could feel the warmth of a real family, not so you could come here and bully people! Can you please drop those ghetto tricks you learned on the streets?” Dad let out a heavy scoff, rapping his knuckles against the mahogany coffee table with a dull thud. “A daughter of Richard Vance, even one who grew up in the system, should carry herself with class. But you? The second you walk through the door, you start drama and bully Chloe. You’ve completely embarrassed the Vance family!” The maids standing off to the side whispered amongst themselves, doing nothing to hide their disdain. “I heard she was just some feral girl from the sticks. Who knew she was this malicious?” “Miss Chloe is so sweet, how could anyone have the heart to bully her?” “Look at her waving her hands around. She’s probably faking being mute just to play the victim and get sympathy.” Their words were like fine needles, piercing my eardrums. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm, and reached for the side pocket of my backpack. My school notebook was in there. I could write down exactly what happened. But just as my fingers brushed the zipper, Connor clamped his hand around my wrist. His grip was brutal; his knuckles practically dug into my bone. “What else are you trying to pull out to trick us?” I struggled, using my free hand to dig into the bag, finally pulling out a stack of loose papers with my notes. But before I could even unfold them, Connor snatched them away. With a violent tear, the stack of papers was reduced to a flurry of white confetti falling around us. The pieces landed in my hair. I stared at him blankly, the last shred of warmth in my heart freezing over. Right on cue, Chloe let out a delicate sob, burying her face deeper into Mom’s chest. “Connor, stop. My sister was just…” “She drove you to depression, and you’re still defending her?” Connor cut her off, his eyes blazing with fury. “Someone this manipulative and toxic doesn’t deserve a place in the Vance family!” Dad’s face darkened completely. He waved a hand at the butler near the door, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. “Throw her out. The Vance family doesn’t have a daughter like this.” Chapter 2 I spent the night curled up on a lumpy mattress at a cheap motel down the street. The next morning, before the homeroom bell even rang, Mr. Harrison called me into his office. When I pushed the door open, Chloe was already sitting in the chair opposite his desk. Her shoulders were heaving, a crumpled tissue in her hand, and her eyes were swollen like walnuts. The second she saw me, she snapped her head up. With a perfectly calibrated look of terror and grievance, she shrank back behind Mr. Harrison’s chair. “Clara, take a seat,” Mr. Harrison said, his voice frigid. “I want you to tell me exactly what you did to Chloe yesterday.” I stood in the doorway, paralyzed. Chloe immediately started sobbing on cue. “Mr. Harrison, please don’t pressure her. Yesterday, she cornered me in the hallway and called me a bastard who stole her nest. She threatened to make my life a living hell until I dropped out of school. I… I’m just so scared.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but every word was articulated perfectly, striking me like a barrage of throwing knives. Mr. Harrison’s expression darkened further. He picked up his desk phone. “I’ve already called your parents. They’ll be here any minute.” A few moments later, the office door swung open. My biological parents walked in. Richard’s face was livid, while Eleanor immediately rushed over to hold Chloe’s hand, her eyes overflowing with heartache. My dad spoke, his voice vibrating with suppressed rage. “Mr. Harrison, what’s going on? Did Clara bully Chloe again?” Mr. Harrison pushed his glasses up his nose, his tone severe. “According to Chloe’s testimony, Clara has repeatedly subjected her to verbal abuse and defamation, even threatening her education.” “This type of behavior is absolutely zero-tolerance at our school.” Richard whipped his head toward me, the disappointment in his eyes threatening to drown me. “How did the Vance family produce a daughter like you?! Are you hellbent on destroying our reputation before you’re satisfied?” I opened my mouth, but only that weak, raspy air escaped. I raised my hands, my fingers just forming the sign for “No,” when Richard slapped me across the face. Smack. The sound was sharp and deafening. My head snapped to the side. My ears rang loudly, and my cheek burned with searing pain. I stared at him in shock, the tears I had been fighting back finally spilling over. “You still have the nerve to cry?!” His voice dripped with unfiltered revulsion. “You do something this horrific and you have the audacity to cry? You’re just putting on a pathetic act for sympathy!” Beside him, Chloe let out another whimper, pressing her face against Eleanor’s chest. “Dad, Mom, stop yelling at her. I don’t blame her.” Eleanor shot me a look of pure disgust. “White trash roots. The only thing she knows how to do is bully our sweet Chloe!” The office door had been left slightly ajar, and a few students were peering in from the hallway. Their whispers drifted clearly into the room. “So she really does bully Chloe…” “She looks so quiet, who knew she was a psycho?” “I heard her biological parents didn’t even want her back. No wonder she’s so toxic.” The gossip pierced my ears. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to ground my emotions. I raised my hands again, slowly signing the words, “I didn’t do it.” But halfway through the motion, Mr. Harrison interrupted me. He frowned, thoroughly annoyed. “Clara, can you please stop using these weird parlor tricks to get attention? If you have something to say, use your words! Stop waving your hands around like a freak!” I froze, my fingers hanging uselessly in the air. So even my silent pleas for justice were just “attention-seeking tricks” to them. Just then, the office door was pushed open a little wider. A girl stood in the doorway, her voice small but steady. “Mr. Harrison, she’s not doing parlor tricks… That’s sign language.” Everyone turned to stare at the girl. It was Mia. She kept her head down, her fingers gripping the hem of her sweater, but she gathered her courage and softly added: “M-my uncle works at the deaf community center. I helped out there over the summer and picked up some ASL. What she just signed was ‘I didn’t do it.’ And… she actually can’t speak.” Chapter 3 The air in the room practically froze. Mia stood in the doorway, her cheeks burning bright red, but she repeated herself, word by word: “I’m not making this up. I learned it from my uncle. She really signed ‘I didn’t do it.’” Mr. Harrison adjusted his glasses, highly skeptical. “Are you sure, Mia? This isn’t something to joke about.” Mia looked up, her eyes determined. “Sign language is structured. I wouldn’t mistake it. Besides… everyone knows Clara has never spoken a single word since she transferred here.” The office went dead silent. Richard and Eleanor’s expressions faltered. Eleanor looked at me, her lips parting as if she wanted to say something. A microscopic flash of guilt crossed her eyes. But in that exact moment, Chloe let out a pathetic, trembling sob. Wiping her tears, she whispered, “Clara, even if you don’t want to admit what you did, you shouldn’t have paid someone to act like you’re actually mute.” Her crying was like a sharp blade, instantly popping the tiny bubble of guilt forming in Eleanor’s chest. Richard’s face immediately darkened again. He glared at me, his fury threatening to incinerate me on the spot. “Clara, you are unbelievable! To escape punishment, you’d actually spin a lie this massive?! You even dragged an accomplice in to put on a show for us! You are rotten to the core!” Trembling, I reached into my uniform pocket and pulled out a neatly folded medical diagnosis. I tried to hold it up for them to see. But the moment the paper left my pocket, Richard snatched it from my hand. Without even glancing at it, he ripped it in half, and then in half again. The thin piece of paper fluttered to the floor in shreds. I stared at him, my tears silently cascading down my cheeks. “Act! Keep acting!” Richard’s voice was filled with pure loathing. “You just need to be disciplined! Since you love pretending to be mute so much, I’m calling the wilderness therapy boot camp. We’re sending you off to the woods for behavioral reform. Let’s see if you can keep faking it when you’re doing hard labor!” Eleanor’s face hardened in agreement. She held Chloe tight, her eyes dripping with contempt. “Clara, we were so wrong about you. To think you’d resort to such cheap, manipulative tactics just to avoid taking responsibility. You are a massive disappointment.” Leaning against Eleanor, the very faintest smirk played on Chloe’s lips, even as she continued to cry beautifully. “Dad, Mom, please don’t be so harsh. Maybe she just made a momentary mistake. She didn’t mean it…” “A momentary mistake?!” Richard sneered. “This is her true nature! Keeping a toxic sociopath like her in our house will only bring ruin to the Vance family! I’m calling Warden Miller from the reform camp right now to come haul her away!” Mr. Harrison stood to the side, looking uncomfortable. He glanced at me, then at my parents, and finally sighed, waving Mia away from the door. “You can go back to class, Mia. We’ll handle this here.” Mia opened her mouth, wanting to argue, but the stern warning in Mr. Harrison’s eyes stopped her. She gave me one last, deeply sympathetic look before turning and walking away. I stood rooted to the spot, looking down at the shredded pieces of my medical record on the floor. Suddenly, I smiled. The innocence I had desperately tried to prove was nothing but a laughable comedy routine in their eyes. I realized then that in this family, my existence meant absolutely nothing. I slowly crouched down and began picking up the torn pieces, one by one. The sharp edges of the paper sliced a tiny cut into my fingertip, but I couldn’t feel the sting. Compared to the agonizing pain in my chest, a papercut was nothing at all. Chapter 4 When the black SUV pulled up in front of the school’s administrative building, the air in the office grew stifling. Two burly men in tactical gray uniforms pushed through the door. They wore the hardened, indifferent expressions of men who dealt with “troubled youth” for a living. Richard immediately stepped forward, greeting them like old friends. “Warden Miller, thanks for making the trip. This girl is pathological and toxic. Keeping her around is a danger to others, so I’m handing her over to your camp for some strict behavioral reform.” The man addressed as Warden Miller glanced at me, a cruel, hardened smirk forming on his lips. “Don’t worry, Mr. Vance. No matter how tough they think they are, they all learn to obey once we get them out in the woods.” Chloe leaned against Eleanor, the triumphant glee in her eyes practically overflowing. She gently tugged on Eleanor’s sleeve, her voice as soft as cotton but laced with poison. “Dad, Mom, don’t be too hard on her. She’s just confused. I’m sure she’ll learn her lesson out at the camp.” Richard scoffed coldly. “She’s rotten to the bone! A place like that is exactly what she needs!” Miller marched over to me, towering above me with an intimidating glare. “So you’re the one? Playing deaf and mute to bully the other kids?” I didn’t speak. I just gripped the hem of my shirt, my fingertips ice cold. Miller’s eyes flashed with impatience. “What, you’re not going to talk? Still acting?” Without warning, he lifted his heavy boot and kicked me brutally in the back of my knee. Caught entirely off guard, I collapsed with a heavy thud. My kneecaps slammed into the unforgiving concrete floor, the pain so blinding my vision went black. “Still want to be stubborn?” Miller grabbed a handful of my hair, violently jerking my head up. “Drop the act!” He slapped me across the face so hard my neck snapped to the side. My ears rang violently, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I was trembling in agony, biting down on my lip so hard to keep from making a sound. But the excruciating pain forced a weak, broken whimper past my throat—a faint, raspy gasp for air. “She made a sound! She really is faking it!” Chloe’s voice pierced the room, shrill and laced with unrestrained excitement. “I knew she was faking being mute to trick us! She’s a liar!” My parents’ expressions turned utterly disgusted. Richard pointed a shaking finger at me, his face purple with rage. “You deceitful little rat! How could the Vance family produce a monster like you?! You are a total disgrace!” Mr. Harrison shook his head, his tone dripping with disappointment. “Clara, you really fooled me. I can’t believe you’d stoop this low to avoid suspension.” The students crowding the doorway began to jeer, their whispers acting like invisible slaps against my already burning cheeks. “So she was faking it!” “She looks so innocent, but she’s actually a complete psycho.” “Ship her off to the woods! It’s what she deserves!” Miller slapped me again, grabbing my arm to drag me out the door. “Let’s go! Let’s see how much you want to act once I get you back to camp!” I squeezed my eyes shut in total despair, the tears finally freely falling down my face. Just then, the office door was kicked open with explosive force. Everyone froze. A man in a pristine, four-star military uniform stood in the doorway. The stars on his shoulders glinted coldly under the fluorescent lights. He was tall, imposing, and radiated an aura of suffocating authority. His gaze swept across every single person in the room, finally landing on me. The heartbreak in his eyes was palpable. When he spoke, his voice was a low, lethal growl. “My daughter simply cannot speak, and you animals dare to humiliate her like this?” Chapter 5 The moment the man spoke, the oxygen seemed to vanish from the room. The raging fury on Richard’s face froze, replaced instantly by a look I had never seen him wear before. It was a mixture of absolute terror and pathetic, groveling submission. “G-General Sterling…” Miller, who was still gripping my hair, released me as if he’d been burned. He stumbled backward, the indifferent cruelty he usually wore cracking wide open. Without his grip holding me up, my shattered knees gave out, and I pitched forward. A second before I hit the ground, a pair of strong hands caught me. The General’s uniform smelled of clean soap and crisp pine—a scent that completely clashed with the toxicity and judgment of this office. He knelt down to my eye level, his gaze sweeping from my bruised, swollen cheek to the blood leaking from the corner of my mouth. The storm of emotions in his eyes was complex, but I recognized the primary one instantly. It was pure, devastating heartbreak. “Clara,” he said, his voice so gentle it sounded like he was afraid of breaking me. “Dad is late.” Dad. The word fell like a boulder into a stagnant pond. The shockwaves obliterated the emotional dams I had spent eighteen years building. I stared at him. A thousand words clogged my throat, but not a single one could make it past my ruined vocal cords. The tears in my eyes finally broke free, falling in heavy drops onto the back of the hand he was using to support my arm. Chloe’s face turned paper-white. She shot up from Eleanor’s embrace so fast her fingernails scratched Eleanor’s hand. But Eleanor didn’t even notice. She was just staring, paralyzed, at the man in the doorway. “G-General…” Chloe’s voice cracked, sounding shrill and terrified. “How is that possible? How could you be her…” She didn’t finish the sentence. Because Arthur Sterling looked at her. His gaze was completely devoid of emotion, like he was looking at a corpse. Chloe’s voice died in her throat. She froze in place. Arthur looked away. He looked down and, with agonizing care, helped me stand up from the floor. My knees were shaking violently, so he firmly wrapped an arm around my waist. His hold was gentle, terrified of hurting me, yet immovable. Then he turned to face the room of petrified people. His voice was slow and measured, yet coated in ice. Every syllable nailed them to the floor. “Eighteen years ago, my wife died in a flash flood while doing charity work in a rural town. Clara’s adoptive mother saved my daughter from the river, but lost her own life in the process. “Clara is the daughter of a fallen hero, and she is the daughter I, Arthur Sterling, have raised for eighteen years. In her entire life, I have never let her suffer a single injustice.” He paused. “I was genuinely happy when she found her biological family. But I never imagined her biological parents would treat her like a stray dog.” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He opened it and slammed it down onto the desk right in front of Richard. It was a medical diagnosis from eighteen years ago. The paper was yellowed, the edges worn from time. But the ink was crystal clear. Patient: Clara Sterling Diagnosis: Organic structural damage to the vocal cords. Prognosis: Permanent, lifelong speech impairment. The office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Richard stared at the paper. The color drained from his face like the tide rolling out. Eleanor’s jaw went slack, a few broken gasps escaping her lips. Mr. Harrison’s glasses began to slide down his sweaty nose. He fumbled to catch them and nearly knocked over his coffee mug. And Chloe. She bit down on her lower lip so hard it turned white. She looked at the diagnosis, then at the protective way the General stood beside me, and finally at the horrified faces of everyone in the room. The panic in her eyes finally burst through the dam. Arthur didn’t miss the terror in Chloe’s eyes. A cold sneer touched his lips as he continued smoothly: “Last night, Clara didn’t come home to the Sterling estate.” “I assumed she was happily reuniting with her biological family.” “And yet? This morning, I received a call from Military Command regarding a disturbance.” Richard’s Adam’s apple bobbed aggressively. His voice sounded like sandpaper on glass. “General Sterling, I… I had no idea! I thought she was…” “You thought she was pretending to be mute to play the victim.” Arthur finished the sentence for him. Richard choked, unable to form another word. Arthur’s piercing gaze locked onto his face. “You tore up her medical records.” His tone didn’t rise. He didn’t yell. But the terrifying calm of a four-star general pinned Richard in place. He looked like he forgot how to breathe. “In front of a dozen people, you slapped her in the face, called her a liar, and hired a thug to drag her through the dirt.” “When she was forced to her knees, you watched.” “When she was being beaten, you watched.” “When she was trembling in excruciating pain but physically couldn’t scream—” Arthur paused. “You. Just. Watched.” “The Vance family truly has impeccable morals. Beating your own flesh and blood, while coddling an imposter.” Richard’s legs gave out, and he stumbled a half-step backward. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but it was like someone had stuffed his throat with cotton. Eleanor—the woman who had been showering Chloe with motherly affection—finally snapped out of her shock. She shoved Chloe away. The motion was so violent and abrupt that Chloe lost her balance and hit her head against the edge of the desk with a dull thud. But Eleanor didn’t even glance down at her. She stumbled two steps toward me, then stopped, as if terrified to get any closer. Her voice was choked with sobs, her eyes bloodshot. “Clara… Mom didn’t know… I really didn’t know…” She reached out a trembling hand, trying to touch my wrist. I didn’t dodge. I just looked down, staring blankly at her perfectly manicured hand. Yesterday, this was the exact same hand that patted Chloe’s back, comforting her, cooing, “Our poor Chloe has suffered so much.” Yesterday, this was the exact same hand that pointed at my face and called me “white trash.” I gently pulled my wrist away and took a half-step behind Arthur. Eleanor’s hand froze in mid-air. It was as if all the strength had been siphoned from her body. She swayed, gripping the edge of the desk just to stay upright. Watching me retreat, the light in her eyes died completely. Her lips trembled violently, but no sound came out. Chloe clutched her bruised forehead, kneeling on the floor. Her voice was so shrill it bordered on hysterical. “General Sterling, I didn’t know! I swear I didn’t know she was your…” She choked. She didn’t know what to call me. Yesterday, I was the unwanted feral child of the Vance family. Today, I was the beloved, spoiled daughter of a four-star general. Tears smeared her makeup into a pathetic mess. She was shaking uncontrollably. “She started it! She targeted me first at school! She went around telling everyone I cheated to get second place, and that my dad bribed the admissions board…” “Spreading rumors.” Arthur suddenly repeated the phrase. “Fascinating. In what universe does a child with permanently severed vocal cords go around spreading rumors?” He didn’t even look at Chloe. He simply turned his head and gave an order to the military aide standing at attention behind him. “Play it.” “Yes, sir.” The aide stepped forward. He opened his briefcase, pulled out a stack of documents, and set a portable cassette player on the desk. He hit play. The tape hissed with static, and then a clear voice echoed in the room. It was a recording from an afternoon two months ago. Chloe’s voice floated out, crisp, sweet, and laced with perfectly manufactured concern. “Did you guys know? The new transfer student, Clara, grew up in the foster system. I heard her biological parents threw her out because she was bad luck.” “I don’t know how she scammed her way into the Vance family, but you guys should stay away from her. People like her are usually thieves. I heard her last foster family returned her because she kept stealing.” “It’s only because my parents are so charitable that they took pity on her and brought her in.” The recording kept playing. Sentence after sentence of Chloe’s lies echoed through the dead-silent office. Mr. Harrison stood with his mouth open, his glasses slipping off his face. Chloe’s face went entirely devoid of blood. The military aide professionally continued his report: “General Sterling, these materials were provided by the school’s disciplinary committee. According to the investigation, since Clara transferred here, Chloe Vance has repeatedly spread false rumors among the student body to destroy Clara’s reputation.” His voice carried zero emotion, reading it like a battlefield casualty report. “Furthermore, according to Clara’s previous homeroom teacher, Chloe used her status as the Vance family heiress to privately request that Clara be seated in the back row, falsely claiming Clara had a history of violent psychiatric episodes.” “This semester alone, Chloe ordered three classmates to go through Clara’s backpack, steal her class notes, and shred them, later telling everyone Clara was just careless and lost them.” “Additionally, Chloe anonymously wrote over a dozen derogatory slurs about Clara on the classroom chalkboard—” “Shut up!” Chloe suddenly shrieked. Her voice was like shattered glass scraping against metal. Her entire body convulsed. Her tear-streaked face looked feral, like a beautiful butterfly that had been stomped into the mud. “I did it! I did all of it! So what?!” She used the desk to drag herself to her feet, her legs shaking like jelly. She locked eyes with me, her gaze dripping with venom. “Clara, are you happy now?” She took a shaky step toward me. “You’re the General’s daughter! You’re so lucky! You were lost for eighteen years, but you still had someone treating you like royalty! But what about me?!” Her voice cracked, echoing loudly off the walls. “I was brought into the Vance family when I was three! I spent every single day walking on eggshells, terrified that if I wasn’t perfect, they’d send me back to the orphanage! Do you have any idea what it’s like to wake up every morning terrified of being abandoned?!” She aggressively pointed at Richard and Eleanor. “And them?! They kept me as a trophy! They played the perfect loving parents in front of the cameras, but behind closed doors, who actually cared about me?!” “When they found you, they pretended they were so excited to bring you home to a life of luxury. But before you even arrived, they didn’t even bother setting up a bedroom for you!” She sobbed, laughing hysterically, her voice hoarse and broken. “Clara, do you hate me?” I stayed silent for a long time. Then, I raised my hands and signed. No one in the room understood it. Arthur translated for me, his voice calm and steady: “She says, she doesn’t hate you.” “Hating you takes energy. She needs to save her energy to live her own life.” Chloe froze. She stared at me, a violent storm of emotions swirling in her eyes—emotions I couldn’t even begin to decipher. They surged like a tidal wave, then slowly receded, leaving behind nothing but an empty, hollow abyss. She didn’t say another word. Arthur gently took my hand and led me toward the door. As we passed Richard, my footsteps faltered. Like a drowning man grasping at a lifeline, Richard shot his head up, his voice ruined. “Clara, Dad… Dad really didn’t know! If I had known you were General Sterling’s daughter, I…” He didn’t finish the sentence. Because he saw my eyes. My gaze was dead calm. As still as a stagnant pool of water. How hilarious. My biological father’s regret wasn’t because he hurt his child; it was because my adoptive father had too much power. I slowly raised my hands and signed a single phrase. Richard frantically looked at Arthur. “What did she say? What did she say?!” Arthur didn’t translate immediately. He looked down at me, as if confirming it was what I wanted. I gave a tiny nod. Arthur looked up, his tone apathetic. “She says, the day she walked into your foyer, she made the exact same hand sign.” Richard froze. “She was saying—” Arthur enunciated every syllable clearly, “—I didn’t do it.” Richard looked as if he’d been struck by lightning, paralyzed on the spot. That day, when I stood in the Vance family’s foyer, I saw how fiercely they loved Chloe. I saw them lovingly peeling fruit and feeding it to her. I had harbored a secret, desperate hope that my biological parents were good, loving people. But the moment I walked in, their glares hit me like physical slaps, making me feel utterly worthless. When Chloe accused me of spreading rumors, I had desperately signed that exact same phrase. Back then, they couldn’t be bothered to look. They just assumed I was putting on an act. Now, they couldn’t understand the signs, yet they were begging someone to translate for them. How ironic. I looked away and followed Arthur out the door.

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At my brother-in-law’s wedding reception, my new sister-in-law suddenly went on the offensive, targeting me in front of everyone. “Chloé, it’s absolutely shameful how you and Liam have taken over Mom and Dad’s retirement estate since you got married. On top of that, you’ve monopolized their Maybach! It’s disgusting.” “Today, with all our friends and family present, I’m calling for a formal separation of the family assets. We’re going to make sure you can’t leech off Liam’s parents anymore!” The room erupted into hushed whispers among the relatives. My in-laws looked beyond mortified, shifting uncomfortably in their seats. I took a slow, calm sip of my wine, then nodded with a smile. “Divide the assets? honestly, I’d love nothing more.” It seems this incredibly self-righteous new sister-in-law of mine doesn’t actually know who pulls the strings in this family. The sprawling estate, the black Maybach, and even that glittering, publicly traded company they all rely on… The actual owner is me. 1. The once-boisterous reception hall fell instantly silent. Up on the stage, Tiffany didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing me fly into a rage. Instead, her own expression soured. Ignoring Liam’s brother, Caleb, who was frantically trying to pull her back, she gripped the microphone tightly and continued her public shaming. “Chloé Vance, I actually admire the sheer thickness of your skin.” “We’re both daughters-in-law married into the Miller family. Do you really think nobody sees what you’re up to? Don’t think you can just nod this away and pretend it’s over!” She turned to the crowd, pointing a trembling, righteous finger at me. “None of you know just how awful my sister-in-law is. She lives in my in-laws’ house but insists on occupying the master suite. She doesn’t lift a finger, expects to be waited on hand and foot. My mother-in-law kindly tried to tidy up the trash in Chloé’s study last week, and Chloé didn’t just show ingratitude—she screamed at her until my mother-in-law was in tears!” “And last month, when my father-in-law slipped at home and sprained his ankle, she didn’t care at all. She actually drove off in the family Maybach, leaving him writhing on the floor in pain!” “It’s the same story at ApexTech. That’s clearly a Miller family business, yet she has the nerve to squat on the title of Executive Vice President. She shows up late, leaves early, and spends her time at her desk doing her makeup, eating snacks, and binge-watching shows. All she does is order her sister-in-law around!” Tiffany glared at me, then looked down at my husband, Liam, who was sitting beside me. “Liam, you need to say something today. Are you really just going to sit there while your wife rides roughshod over the entire family?” Instantly, every eye in the room focused on Liam Miller. Even I looked at him, genuinely curious to see how he would respond. When we first got married five years ago, the Miller family was practically destitute. Liam was the only saving grace, an Ivy League graduate. His younger brother, Caleb, and sister, Mia, had both dropped out of high school to work in factories. His parents did grueling manual labor on construction sites. Their combined annual family income back then wouldn’t have been enough to buy my cheapest pair of shoes. In the five years since our wedding, I didn’t just buy them a mansion and luxury cars; I fully funded and founded ApexTech. I taught them how to do business from scratch, using my money and my connections to land their first clients. No one else in that room knew the truth, but every single person in the Miller family knew exactly how they got where they were. Under the weight of countless scorching stares, Liam’s face darkened. His knuckles turned white as he gripped his wine glass. After a few excruciating seconds, as if making a monumental decision, he turned to face me. “Chloé, Tiffany isn’t lying. You really were in the wrong for those things.” “As the eldest sister-in-law, you should have set an example. You should have shown respect to my parents.” “Today, in front of everyone, I want you to stand up, pour a glass of wine for Mom, Dad, and Mia, and give them a proper apology. We’ll let this go once you do.” My gaze icy cold. The smile completely vanished from my face. These words might have sounded like he was trying to smooth things over, but in reality, he was confirming every single one of Tiffany’s accusations. He was branding me a sinner in public, forcing me to confess on the spot. But Liam seemed to have forgotten the night we got married. He had knelt before me, crying, saying I was the savior of his entire family. He swore that even if it cost him his life, he would never let me suffer a single moment of grievance. The promises were still ringing in my ears, but the man was unrecognizable. I turned my head, my eyes slowly scanning my parents-in-law, Mia, and then Caleb up on the stage. That time Tiffany claimed I made my mother-in-law cry? It was because she ignored my explicit, repeated warnings never to enter my study. She snuck in while I was out under the guise of “cleaning” and threw away the original, signed copy of a multi-billion dollar international merger contract, thinking it was scrap paper. Yes, I used harsh words then. And the sprained ankle incident? I had immediately canceled a meeting with a major client to call a high-end private ambulance. I didn’t drive away until I saw my father-in-law safely inside the ambulance and on his way to the hospital. As for Mia, if I hadn’t stepped in, her money-grubbing parents would have practically sold her off in an arranged marriage to a rich, older widower back in their hometown. I treated her like my own sister. I paid for her to go to a top tier business school abroad to broaden her horizons, and when she started working, I kept her by my side, teaching her everything I knew about running and managing a company. Even Caleb—every luxury sports car he owned, his racing gear, the house and car he bought for Tiffany, the massive dowry, and the entire cost of this wedding reception—it was all my money. Yet now, faced with this “sinner” label being slapped on me, every single one of them avoided my eyes. Not one person intended to speak up for me. I felt a chilling sense of ridicule. I looked at Liam, who was silently urging me to submit, and just curled my lip. “You want me to apologize? In your dreams.” “I haven’t done anything wrong, so I’m not apologizing to anyone.” 2 Liam didn’t expect that I, who always protected his ego in public, would completely humiliate him like this. His face went totally black. “Chloé, this is a major day for the Miller family.” “For the sake of our years as husband and wife, don’t be so immature. Show some class.” Hearing his lowered, threatening tone, I actually laughed out loud. When we were dating, no matter how wild or impulsive I was, Liam accepted it all. He used to adore my stubborn streak, saying he loved how passionate and unyielding I was, like bright sunshine. But now, simply because I refused to take the blame for things I didn’t do, I was labeled “immature.” Looking at this man I had loved for nearly ten years, I realized for the first time just how hypocritical and selfish he was. He was frighteningly cold-hearted. “Show some class? Liam, who do you think provides the Miller family with the ‘class’ you have now?” Before I could finish, Liam interrupted me with an icy tone. “Enough, Chloé Vance. It seems I’ve spoiled you too much!” “I am announcing, as of this moment, that we are formally separating from my parents’ household!” “In the future, that retirement estate and the cars belong to them. You are not allowed to use them without explicit permission!” “As for ApexTech, you will surrender all the stock shares under your name. We are doing a clean break!” The mask was finally off. Only now, with the dagger pointed at me, did I understand the true purpose of this ambush. They wanted to seize the thirty percent of ApexTech’s original founders’ shares that I held. When Liam said those words, a look of cold, calculating greed flashed in the eyes of every single member of the Miller family. It was the primal, ferocious instinct of a pack of animals hunting together. Even though their prey was the very person who had dragged them out of poverty and completely changed their lives. In the second I recognized this, the last remaining shred of expectation and warmth I held for this family was extinguished. Ten years of devotion, five years of marriage. If I had fed my heart to dogs, it would have been more rewarding than this. “Liam Miller, have you really thought this through?” I turned my gaze squarely on him. Perhaps because he had never seen me look so cold and indifferent, Liam’s eyes flickered with a moment of uncertainty before he nodded firmly. “It doesn’t matter if you agree. As the eldest son of the Miller family, the actual legal representative, and the CEO of ApexTech, I have the right to dispose of your shares according to the initial stock agreement.” “Take the buyout money and walk away. This is the most dignified exit you’re going to get.” “Otherwise, you will end up with nothing.” As he spoke, he gestured to his secretary downstage. The secretary immediately brought up a document and handed it to me. Back when I helped the Miller family start ApexTech, I was fully aware of the small loop-hole in the stock agreement—it was enough for Liam to kick me out at any time. But back then, I believed love was worth more than gold. I didn’t believe the day would ever come when my partner would pick up a weapon against me for profit. I see now how naive I was. According to the document, all the equity I held in ApexTech was to be transferred unconditionally to be shared among the three Miller siblings: Liam, Caleb, and Mia. Furthermore, the estate registered in my name and the Maybach were all to be unconditionally “gifted” to Liam’s parents. The clauses even stated that I voluntarily waived all rights to any future claims and would not interfere in any way, shape, or form with any Miller family affairs, including the management of the company. I really hadn’t expected them to have prepared all this. It meant Tiffany’s sudden attack wasn’t a spontaneous whim at all; it was a carefully calculated plot they had all agreed upon. Perhaps for a very long time, they had been plotting how to legitimately steal everything in my hands. 3 After flipping through the last page, I put the document back on the table and looked up, scanning the faces of the people in front of me. “Have you all thought this through? Are you sure you want me to sign this?” My mother-in-law was the first to speak. “Chloé, this is how it should have been. The Miller family didn’t marry you so you could hoard the family assets.” “Just sign it, and we can still be one big, happy family in the future. Wouldn’t that be nice?” My father-in-law nodded, coughing once before adding, “Yes, we shouldn’t keep secrets from each other in a family. These things should have belonged to the Miller family from the start. Give them back, and you’ll still be our eldest daughter-in-law. No one will think ill of you.” Mia kept her head down, muttering softly, “Sister-in-law, just sign it. You’re so rich; these things are nothing to you.” “But they are different for us. We need this.” Caleb rushed to chime in, “Exactly, Chloé. You have your own massive family business; why do you care about this small stake? Just think of it as helping us out. We’ll definitely remember your kindness.” Tiffany scoffed next to him, crossing her arms and looking at me disdainfully. “You hear them, right? The whole family says so. Stop putting on an act and sign the damn paper.” “Don’t ruin our wedding reception and spoil everyone’s mood.” Finally, my gaze fell back on Liam. He looked at me, his tone softening slightly, as if he were coaxing a child, yet delivering an ultimatum. “Chloé, sign it. We’ve been married for so many years; don’t we have at least this much trust?” “If you really love me, sign this to prove to me that you didn’t stay with me just for the Miller family’s money.” When I heard that sentence, I finally couldn’t hold it back. I burst into laughter. Apparently, loving someone meant handing over my entire net worth to their family, letting them take whatever they wanted, and still being accused of only wanting them for their money. I laughed for a long time before stopping. I looked at Liam. “Liam, these things are indeed worthless to me.” “But are you sure you can handle them?” Liam’s face instantly darkened. He thought I was provoking him, that I was looking down on them. “Chloé Vance, what is that supposed to mean? I’m the one who runs ApexTech. I’ve been handling all the company’s business operations these past few years. Without you, we can still make this company thrive. Don’t think too highly of yourself.” “Fine.” I nodded and picked up the pen to sign my name. As I finished the last stroke, I threw the pen back onto the table and pushed the signed document forward. Tiffany was the first to pounce on it. She picked up the file and flipped through it, her face filled with excitement. She quickly handed the document to Caleb, telling him to put it away safely, as if she were afraid I would regret it. The tension on Liam’s face finally relaxed slightly, and a look of unreadable emotion appeared in his eyes as he looked at me. I didn’t give him a chance to speak. I simply said in a cold voice, “Liam, I’ve signed it. I’ve given you everything you wanted.” “From this day forward, nothing concerning the Miller family has anything to do with Chloé Vance.” With that, I turned around and walked straight toward the exit of the reception hall. Sitting in my car, I took out my phone and called my father’s special assistant, Mr. Henderson. “Mr. Henderson, as of this exact moment, ApexTech has absolutely nothing to do with me.” “Withdraw every single resource associated with the Vance family immediately.” “Within one month, I want this supposed commercial ‘miracle’ to become nothing more than a permanent joke.” Mr. Henderson was stunned for a second, but without asking a single question, he immediately responded with cool professionalism. “Understood, Miss Vance. I will see to it immediately.” I hung up the phone and leaned back against the seat, looking at the imposing ApexTech tower across from the hotel. I curled my lip in a smile. Let the wildfire that is about to destroy everything burn as brightly as possible. 4 The very next morning, Liam had barely sat in the CEO’s chair, not yet having the chance to fully savor the feeling of absolute power, when the building’s property manager pushed the door open and handed him a new rent notice. Liam looked at the number on it, and his face instantly turned pale. “What is the meaning of this? Wasn’t the previous rent two hundred thousand a month? Why has it suddenly jumped to eight hundred thousand? This is highway robbery!” The head of property management crossed his arms, his tone flat. “Mr. Miller, you can’t say that.” “Your previous VP, Mrs. Vance, has a close personal relationship with our owner. That’s why we were giving you the friends-and-family rate. Now that she has been removed from your management team, we naturally have to adjust to the market rate.” “Other comparable office buildings in this area go for this price. We aren’t asking for a penny more.” Liam froze in place, utterly speechless. The property manager looked at him and added one more thing: “Oh, and my boss said, either you pay one full year’s rent upfront at the new rate, or you move out by the end of this month.” “The choice is yours.” With that, the property manager turned and left. Caleb and the others rushed in as soon as they heard the news. “Liam, eight hundred thousand a month! That’s nine point six million a year! Where are we supposed to get that kind of money?” Caleb’s voice was shaking. Tiffany, however, was very calm. She had been the star of the show at the wedding reception yesterday, and today she had specially dressed up to come to the company as the legitimate second Mrs. Miller. She took the notice and glanced at it, then scoffed, throwing the paper back on the desk. “I thought it was some massive catastrophe. It’s just a rent increase. What are you panicking for?” “Eight hundred thousand is eight hundred thousand. We are the owners of the company now; we can’t come up with this small amount? Isn’t it just over nine million a year?” “We’ll make that back easily with one big contract. It’s no big deal. We’ll accept the increase; it’s just rent, we can afford it.” As soon as she said this, Caleb and Mia seemed to find their backbone again and nodded. “Yeah, Tiffany makes sense. It’s just a rent hike. We own the company now; why are we afraid of this small amount of money?” “Exactly. The company made so much money every year before; this rent is nothing.” Liam also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Tiffany was right. Before he could fully relax, Caleb’s phone rang urgently. Caleb listened for only two seconds before his face went entirely pale. His legs actually buckled, and he fell to the floor. “Liam! It’s a disaster! Something major happened with the supply chain!”

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During the holidays, my e-bike suddenly exploded. It torched my neighbor’s Maybach and killed a grandfather and his young grandson who happened to be walking by. My entire family drained their savings to compensate the victims, saddling us with millions in debt. For twenty years, I was cursed and spat on by the victims’ families. I worked eight jobs a day just to pay off the money. The very night I finally cleared the debt, I collapsed and died of extreme overwork. But right before I closed my eyes, I heard my parents laughing outside my door: “Actually, that Maybach didn’t even burn. And that old man and his grandson? They faked their deaths. This idiot actually believed it and worked himself to the bone!” “What else were we supposed to do? If Chloe wanted a glamorous wedding, we needed cash! As an adopted son we took in from the streets, this was his only use.” It turned out my entire twenty years of suffering was nothing but a sick joke. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the explosion. This time, I rode the e-bike away early in the morning and sank it to the bottom of the reservoir behind the hills. Without the bike, let’s see how you put on this little show! But at 3:00 PM, the explosion still happened. …… The sunflower seeds in my hand scattered across the floor. I froze in place. Impossible. I had clearly sunk the e-bike into the reservoir. How could it possibly explode? I rushed out the door. Thick black smoke and roaring flames billowed from the entrance of our neighborhood. Neighbors were screaming and sprinting toward the commotion. I followed right behind them. My legs felt like jelly; my heart hammered fiercely against my ribs. The scene was even more gruesome than in my previous life. That Maybach was genuinely burning, letting out terrifying crackling and popping sounds. Next to the car, two charred bodies lay motionless on the asphalt, completely unrecognizable. “Call 911!” “Whose e-bike is this?! Why was it plugged in here?!” “I think it’s Carter’s! I saw him pushing it this morning!” Everyone turned to look at me in unison. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. This was impossible. My e-bike was at the bottom of the reservoir. How could it be here? And how could it explode? “Carter Hayes! Is this your e-bike?!” Mr. Sterling crawled out of the Maybach, his face covered in blood, screaming at me hysterically. “I’ll kill you! This is my brand-new Maybach! Half a million dollars! You’re paying me back every cent!” I backed away, my mind completely blank. The explosion in my past life had been faked. How did it become real this time? And my e-bike… I had thrown it into the water myself. Why was it here? “It wasn’t me…” I muttered to myself. “My e-bike isn’t here…” “Still trying to lie?!” Old man Jenkins pointed right at my nose. “I saw you pushing that e-bike out this morning with my own eyes! If it wasn’t you, who was it?” “Exactly! Around here, who else has a bright red e-bike?” “Murderer! You’ll pay for this with your life!” The crowd swarmed me, shoving and cursing. The sheer hatred threatened to drown me, making it far more terrifying than my past life. Because in my past life, at least I knew it was all a staged lie. But now, two real people had died right in front of me, and the Maybach was genuinely burning to a crisp. “Carter, what is going on?!” My parents and sister squeezed through the aggressive crowd. My dad, Robert, was livid. My mom, Brenda, just plopped onto the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing at the top of her lungs. “Oh, dear God! What are we going to do?! Our family is going to be ruined!” My sister, Chloe, and her boyfriend stood off to the side, their eyes darting nervously, refusing to look at me. It was the exact same scene from my previous life. But this time, the explosion was real, and the deaths were real. Didn’t they know? “Brother, is it really your e-bike?” Chloe walked over, lowering her voice. “Didn’t you take it to town for repairs this morning? How did it end up here?” I stared dead into her eyes, trying to find a crack in her facade, but all I saw was genuine panic. “This isn’t my bike!” I said through gritted teeth. “I sank mine into the reservoir!” “What?” Chloe’s eyes widened. “Carter, what are you talking about? Are you in shock?” “I’m not crazy! I pushed it to the reservoir at 6:00 AM, tied rocks to it, and sank it! The bike that exploded isn’t mine!” The crowd went dead silent for a second before erupting into an even louder uproar. “This kid has lost his mind. What nonsense is he spouting?” “Sank it in the reservoir? He’s just trying to dodge responsibility!” “Arrest him! Let the cops take him away!” My dad lunged forward and slapped me brutally across the face. “You bastard! You still dare to lie?! Those are two human lives!” I covered my cheek, tasting the metallic tang of blood in my mouth. This slap hurt just as much as it did in my previous life. But in my past life, I thought he was genuinely furious and devastated. I only learned later that it was all an act—a performance to make the guilt crush me so I would willingly become their cash cow. But this time, the explosion was real. If they really planned all of this, then what was the deal with the two dead bodies and the burning Maybach? The police arrived quickly and cordoned off the scene. I was pulled aside to give a statement, my entire body feeling numb. “Name?” “Carter Hayes.” “Is that e-bike yours?” “No.” I lifted my head, my eyes firm. “My e-bike is in the reservoir. I sank it there myself this morning. The bike that exploded looks like mine, but it’s not.” The officer frowned. “Mr. Hayes, we have eyewitnesses placing you with the bike this morning. Furthermore, we found the remnants of your license plate at the epicenter of the blast.” “Impossible!” I shot up from my chair. “My plate is a custom vanity plate—’LUCKY-8′. Chloe got it for me for good luck. What plate did you find?” The officer glanced down at his notepad. “‘LUCKY-8’.” I felt like I had been struck by lightning. I slumped back into the chair. This was impossible. My e-bike was in the water. How could my license plate be at the explosion site? Did someone fish my e-bike out of the water? But when? I sank it at 6:00 AM, and it exploded at 3:00 PM. Who could have dragged an e-bike out of a deep reservoir and brought it back to the neighborhood in such a short window of time? And why would they do that? “I need to go to the reservoir.” I grabbed the officer’s arm. “Take me to the hills. My e-bike is down there. Send divers down, you will definitely find it!” The officers exchanged a look. Seeing how desperate and agitated I was, they finally agreed. The banks of the reservoir were soon crowded with nosy onlookers. Two police divers stripped off their heavy gear and plunged into the freezing water. I paced anxiously on the shore, my hands balled into tight fists. As long as they pulled that e-bike out, I could prove my innocence. The one that exploded was a fake. Someone had intentionally framed me. “Got something!” A diver broke the surface, holding a piece of debris. My heart leaped into my throat. It was a piece of red plastic—definitely from an e-bike. “Is there more down there?! What about the rest of the bike?!” I yelled. The diver went back under. A few minutes later, he resurfaced and shook his head. “There’s nothing else down here. Just this fragment and some heavy rocks with cut ropes.” “Impossible!” I screamed. “I sank the whole bike! I tied four massive rocks to it! How could it be gone?!” “Mr. Hayes, are you absolutely sure you sank the bike here?” The officer climbed ashore, his face stern. “There’s no vehicle at the bottom. Just this fragment. And based on our preliminary checks, the VIN numbers recovered from the blast site match your registration perfectly.” “I don’t know what’s going on…” I clutched my head, my mind spinning into chaos. I remembered it so vividly. I pushed the bike here, tied the rocks, and watched it sink. But now, the bike was gone, leaving only a single fragment. Did I remember wrong? Did I not actually sink it? Did I just push it to the neighborhood entrance in a daze? No, impossible. I remembered the biting cold of the morning frost. I remembered the heavy strain of lifting the rocks. I remembered the bubbles bursting on the surface as the bike went under. Those memories were too real to be fake. “Carter, just stop making excuses.” My mom cried out from the crowd. “Murder demands a life, debt demands money. That’s the law of the world. Our family might be poor, but we can’t do something this evil and run away from it!” “Yeah, if you did the crime, do the time!” “He looked like such an honest kid. Who knew his heart was this black?” The curses from the crowd felt like knives stabbing into my skin. I looked around. Every face was so familiar, yet so completely alien. In my past life, they cursed me exactly like this. For twenty years. But before I died last time, I learned the truth. I knew I was innocent. This time, even I was starting to doubt myself. Did I really sink the bike? “I want to see the security footage.” I suddenly said. “There’s a camera at the neighborhood entrance. Check if I pushed the bike there!” The officer nodded. “We already checked. Unfortunately, the camera at the entrance was vandalized yesterday. It hasn’t been fixed.” My heart sank. “What… what about the other cameras nearby?” “We checked. You were caught on camera at 6:00 AM pushing the bike out of the neighborhood, but no other cameras picked you up after that.” “What about the path to the reservoir? Any cameras in the hills?” The officer shook his head. “It’s undeveloped land. No cameras.” I was drowning in despair. No cameras to prove I went to the reservoir. No bike at the bottom to prove my innocence. Everyone was pointing fingers at me, and my own mind was betraying me. Did I really cause the explosion? “Brother, don’t be like this.” Chloe walked over, a look of deep concern plastered on her face. “Even if it was an accident, we won’t blame you. We’re a family, we’ll shoulder the burden together.” She reached out, trying to help me up. Looking at her hypocritical face, a wave of nausea washed over me. In my past life, she said the exact same words. “Brother, we’ll shoulder it together.” Yet the only one carrying the burden was me. The only one enjoying the fruits of my labor was her. “Get away from me.” I slapped her hand away. “I don’t need your fake sympathy.” Chloe’s face fell, immediately shifting into a mask of pure victimization. “Carter, I know you’re under a lot of stress, but how can you treat me like this…” “Enough!” My dad, Robert, charged forward and kicked me hard in the shoulder. “You ungrateful wretch! You make a fatal mistake and then take your temper out on your sister! You’ve lost your damn mind!” I crashed to the ground, my shoulder burning in agony. My mom lunged at me, pinching and scratching. “I’ll beat you to death, you curse! You killed two people and now you want to drag our whole family down! Why didn’t you just die?!” I curled up on the dirt, letting them hit me. In my past life, they pinned all the blame on me and played the perfect victims. But back then, I eventually knew it was all a staged act. This time, I didn’t know anything anymore. If they really didn’t know the truth, if the explosion was truly an accident, then their anger right now was genuine. And I was the monster who killed two innocent people and torched a luxury car. “Break it up!” An officer pulled my parents away. “The investigation is still ongoing. You can’t assault him.” “What else is there to investigate?! He did it!” Brenda wailed. “What sin did the Hayes family commit to pick up this jinx off the streets?! We should have let him freeze to death!” I was taken back to the neighborhood and locked inside our living room. Late at night, I huddled in the corner, my brain a chaotic mess. Were the memories of my past life real? Was the memory of my parents conspiring against me a delusion? If they were innocent, what the hell were those twenty years of suffering? I felt dizzy. Was I actually losing my mind? Were all my memories just hallucinations? Around midnight, I snuck out through the window. I wanted to go back to the reservoir to see if I could find any clues. But to my shock, when I reached the banks of the reservoir, I saw my parents and sister standing there in the dark. Their voices were kept low, but I could still make out fragments of their conversation. “What do we do? The plan changed? Did he actually sink the bike?” “If he really sank it, then whose bike exploded?” “It doesn’t matter. It blew up, so we just stick to the original plan…” “But what about those two dead bodies? They’re actually dead, but they aren’t the actors we hired…” “Who did it?” “I don’t know, but it works out perfectly. Saves us the money we were going to pay the actors.” My blood ran freezing cold. It felt like I had plunged into an ice bath. They really did have a plan. The explosion, the deaths, the debt in my past life—they had orchestrated all of it. But this time, the explosion and the deaths became chillingly real, completely exceeding their expectations. And yet, they still wanted to proceed with the plan. They still wanted to make me the scapegoat to ruin my life! “What about the bike in the water?” It was Chloe’s voice. “Why is it missing?” “I don’t know. Is it possible he just remembered wrong and never actually sank it?” “No, I checked the ice this morning. There was a fresh hole. Something heavy definitely went down there.” “Then what happened? Did the bike sprout legs and run away?” “Who cares? It’s a dead end anyway. Nobody will believe a word he says. We just insist it was his bike and make him pay for it.” “But those are two real lives. Will he go to prison?” “No prison, just massive debt. We’ll pretend to help him out so he feels overwhelmingly grateful, then we send him out to work eight jobs a day. Just like we planned. He’ll be our blood bag!” I knew it! The voices I heard before I died in my past life weren’t a hallucination! This was their master plan all along! But if all of this was true, where the hell did the e-bike I sank into the reservoir go? My parents didn’t know. My sister didn’t know. They just wanted to exploit the situation and drain me dry. But I needed to find that e-bike to clear my name! Just then, a memory hit me like a freight train. When I bought the e-bike, I didn’t have enough cash, so I bought it on a payment plan from a shady dealership in town. The dealer had secretly installed a hidden GPS tracker inside the chassis, telling me he wouldn’t remove it until the debt was paid in full. Thinking of this, I sprinted through the night all the way to town and banged on the dealer’s door. I begged him to check the bike’s location on his computer. When the map loaded, I felt like I had been struck by lightning. I finally understood where the e-bike I sank had gone. And I finally knew exactly whose bike had exploded.

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My uncle called me out of the blue, saying he urgently needed $340,000 for an emergency. I was put in a tough spot; after all, that’s a massive amount of money. Before I could process it, my husband chimed in: “When your uncle gave you that condo years ago, he definitely wasn’t expecting anything in return, right?” I nodded. He scoffed. “Then what right does he have to ask you for money now?” “He gave it to you, it’s yours. Now that the property value went up, he wants to leech off it? In his dreams.” I froze completely. On the other end of the line, my uncle heard every single word. 1 The other end of the line was dead silent. That silence travelled through the receiver, piercing my eardrum like an ice-cold needle. Every passing second felt like I was being fried in a vat of hot oil. I could imagine my uncle’s honest, hardworking face instantly turning ashen on the other side. “Uncle…” I forced the word out, my throat feeling like it was stuffed with wet cotton. Click. The call disconnected. It wasn’t an angry slam of the phone, but the kind of disconnect where the phone just slips from powerless fingers. My hand was still suspended in mid-air, the phone screen already gone dark. The bright lights of our living room suddenly made me feel freezing cold. Mark, my husband, the man I had shared a bed with for five years, was sitting on the sofa across from me. There wasn’t a trace of guilt on his face; if anything, he looked somewhat smug. “See? I called him out, and he hung up. He knows he’s in the wrong.” He picked up an apple from the coffee table and took a hard bite, making a loud, crisp crunch. “I’m doing this for your own good, Chloe.” “You’re just too soft-hearted. You let people walk all over you.” “These broke relatives of yours, they see you doing well now, see your property went up in value, and they want a piece of the pie.” “Today he has the nerve to ask for three hundred and forty grand. Tomorrow he’ll ask for more.” “It’s a bottomless pit, and we are not jumping in.” Every word he said was like a poisoned blade, stabbing with pinpoint accuracy into the softest part of my heart. I looked at him. This face that I once found so handsome, so reliable, now looked entirely alien. Ugly, even. “Mark, that’s my uncle.” My voice trembled with an anger I didn’t even know I was capable of. “When my parents passed away, all our other relatives avoided me like the plague.” “It was my uncle. He drained his life savings to buy me this condo, just so I would have a roof over my head.” “You can’t put a price tag on that kind of grace.” Mark sneered, casually tossing the apple core into the trash. “Grace? Can grace pay the bills?” “Wake up, Chloe. What century are you living in? You still care about that sentimental garbage?” “When he bought you this place, what was it worth? Maybe fifty grand?” “And what about now? Eight hundred and sixty-five thousand!” Greed flashed in his eyes. The number sounded almost feverish coming from his mouth. “He’s trying to use a fifty-grand investment to leverage over eight hundred grand in cash out of us.” “He really knows how to play the system.” I felt all the blood in my body rush to my head. So, in his eyes, my uncle’s lifesaving grace was nothing more than a calculated financial investment. “Us?” I caught the word he used, a chill rising from the soles of my feet. “Mark, this condo is a pre-marital asset. It’s mine.” His face instantly darkened. “Chloe, what is that supposed to mean?” “We are married. What’s yours is mine, isn’t it?” “I work my ass off for this family, do I get no credit?” He began to list his “sacrifices” over the years. Commuting every day, visiting my hometown during the holidays. He painted himself as the ultimate, selfless family man. I only found it ironic. We had been married for five years, and I covered the vast majority of our household expenses. Because I made more money than him. As for his income, to use his words, “A man needs walking around money for networking, and I need to save up for big investments.” And now, he was already fantasizing about that $865,000. “Once we sell this place, we’ll upgrade to a big house in the suburbs. One with a yard.” “Then we’ll help my brother put a down payment on a starter home downtown. He’s getting to that age.” “Whatever’s left, we save. Boom, college fund for our future kids, sorted.” He planned it all out so naturally. As if my uncle’s only purpose for existing was to provide him and his family with a more comfortable life. I was completely chilled to the bone. This man. I had loved him for five years. I thought he would be my rock for the rest of my life. But in the end, in his world, family, grace, everything… none of it held a candle to money. I didn’t want to argue with him anymore. Any words felt pale and powerless in the face of such naked greed. I turned, walked into the bedroom, and shut the door. I locked all of his filthy words outside. I dug out an old photo album from the deepest part of my nightstand. The cover was yellowed, the edges frayed. The very first page was a photo of me and my uncle. I was sixteen that year, having just lost my parents, skinny as a rail. I was wearing an ill-fitting school hoodie, my eyes full of terror and confusion. My uncle stood beside me, his rough, broad hand gripping my shoulder tightly. His face couldn’t hide his exhaustion, but the way he looked at me was full of determination and fierce compassion. The background of the photo was this very studio apartment. Back then, this area was still a dirt lot. But my uncle pointed at the construction site and said to me: “Chloe, don’t be scared. This is going to be your home from now on.” Tears, without any warning, smashed onto the photo album, blurring a small patch. The bedroom door was violently shoved open. Mark barged in, reeking of alcohol. “Chloe, I’m warning you, you are not allowed to contact that uncle of yours again!” His face was flushed, his eyes vicious. “And do not mention money! Not a single word!” “If you dare give him money behind my back, we are done!” I looked at him coldly. “Mark, what gives you the right?” He was enraged by my stare, his voice pitching higher. “What gives me the right? I am your husband!” “The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the things you use—what part of it isn’t provided by the Miller family?” “You’re an orphan with nothing! If I hadn’t been blind enough to marry you, who knows what gutter you’d be floating in right now!” “Do you really think you’re some high-class city girl now?” “Let me tell you, those broke hicks from your hometown aren’t getting a single dime from me!” Every sentence felt like a ringing slap across my face. So, this whole time, in his heart, I was just a destitute orphan. My only value was attached to an appreciating piece of real estate. I looked at him, and suddenly, I laughed. The sound was alien even to me—sharp, and full of absolute desolation. That night was destined to be sleepless. I stared wide-eyed at the ceiling until the first light of dawn crept through the window. I made a decision. No matter what, I was going to help my uncle. Even if it meant selling this condo. 2 The next day, the doorbell rang loudly and urgently. Looking through the peephole, I saw the anxious face of my mother-in-law, Susan. I knew Mark’s “reinforcements” had arrived. I opened the door, and Susan pushed past me, charging straight in. “Oh, my poor boy, what happened to you? You look awful.” She grabbed Mark’s hands, looking him up and down as if he had suffered some massive injustice. Mark immediately cooperated, putting on an exhausted, helpless expression. Susan turned her head, her gaze landing on me like a spotlight. “Chloe, I heard the news.” “Your uncle is trying to borrow money from you?” The probing tone in her voice was prickly as a needle. I gave a flat response. “Yes.” “How much?” “Over three hundred thousand.” Susan gasped, her voice instantly turning shrill. “Over three hundred thousand?! Why doesn’t he just go rob a bank!” “He’s trying to hollow out our family!” I looked at her coldly. “Mom, that is my uncle. He is family.” “Also, it’s just a loan to get through an emergency. It’s not a handout.” Susan plopped down on the sofa, slapping her thigh and starting her theatrics. “Loan my foot! Lending money to broke relatives is like throwing meat to stray dogs—it never comes back!” “Chloe, Chloe, you can’t be this ungrateful!” “You married into the Miller family now, everything you have belongs to the Millers!” “That condo of yours, even if you bought it before we met, you married my Mark. That makes it Miller family property!” Her logic was simply the logic of a bandit. I was so angry I laughed. “Mom, what you’re saying is very interesting.” “Since when did my condo become Miller family property?” Seeing I wasn’t playing along, Susan’s face changed. She put away the fake tears, revealing shrewd calculation. “Chloe, look, how about this.” “Just to be safe, and to make your uncle give up hope entirely.” “Add Mark’s name to the deed.” “That way, the condo becomes joint marital property. He won’t be able to scheme for it so easily.” Finally, the fox showed its tail. This was the real reason she came today. I rejected her without a second of hesitation. “No way.” Those two words were like a bucket of ice water on her scheming. Susan’s face instantly turned the color of raw liver. “You! You ungrateful wretch!” “Our family must have had the worst luck in the world to marry a traitor like you!” Mark, who had been silent this whole time, finally found his opening. He stood up, walked over to me, and looked down at me. “Chloe, what exactly do you think of me and my mom?” “We are a family!” “Why are we dividing things into ‘yours’ and ‘mine’?” “You’re being so defensive, have you been planning an exit strategy this whole time?” Every accusation felt like he was forcing a selfish, greedy hat onto my head. I was shaking with anger. “Family?” “My uncle is waiting for life-saving money right now, and what are you doing?” “Have you treated them like family for even a second?” Susan jumped up from the sofa, pointing her finger right at my nose. “Whether your uncle’s son lives or dies has nothing to do with the Millers!” “Why should we use our own money to fill their family’s sinkhole?” That sentence exploded in my brain like a thunderclap. I looked at the mother and son in front of me. At their entitled, cold-blooded, ruthless faces. For the first time, I genuinely considered divorce. This wasn’t my home. They weren’t my family. They were just two leeches attached to my property, hoping to suck me dry. I took a deep breath, suppressing the rising nausea in my chest. “Get out.” My voice wasn’t loud, but it carried undeniable finality. Both Mark and Susan froze. They probably never expected that I, usually so compliant, would say something like that. “What did you say?” Mark’s eyes widened. “I said, get the hell out of my condo.” I enunciated every single syllable clearly. Susan snapped out of it and tried to lunge at me, ready to throw a tantrum. “You little bitch, you dare kick me out! I’ll kill you!” I dodged to the side and used all my strength to shove the two of them toward the door. Mark was still trying to reason with me, or rather, threaten me. “Chloe, you’re crazy! You’re cutting ties with us over an outsider?” I didn’t answer. I just forcefully shoved them out the door. Then, with a heavy slam, I shut it. I turned the lock. Deadbolted. The world was finally quiet. I leaned against the cold door, my body sliding down until I hit the floor. But a voice inside my head was incredibly clear: This condo, this final shred of dignity, no one is taking it from me. 3 I sat on the cold floor until my legs went numb. Once I calmed down, the first thing I did was call my uncle back. It rang for a long time before someone picked up. “Hello?” It was my aunt’s voice, thick with congestion and exhaustion. “Auntie, it’s me, Chloe.” “Where’s Uncle?” The other end was silent for a moment before my uncle’s hoarse voice came through. “Chloe, honey.” “Uncle is fine, don’t worry.” “Yesterday… I was out of line. Don’t fight with your husband over me.” He was still thinking about me. My eyes instantly welled up. “Uncle, don’t say that.” “I’m the one who’s sorry.” “What exactly happened? You have to tell me.” After my repeated questioning, my uncle finally told me the truth. My cousin, Leo, was diagnosed with acute leukemia. He needed a bone marrow transplant immediately. They found a match, but the $340,000 surgical fee was a mountain crushing this already struggling family. “…Your cousin is still so young, he’s only twenty-five…” My uncle’s voice choked on a sob. “The doctor said as long as the money is there, the success rate is very high…” On my end of the phone, my face was already covered in tears. It was life-saving money. And yet, because of Mark’s garbage behavior, I had wasted precious time. Guilt and self-reproach washed over me like a tidal wave. “Uncle, don’t worry.” I wiped my tears away, my voice carrying a determination that surprised even me. “I will figure out the money.” “I will get it to you in the shortest amount of time possible.” I hung up and immediately opened my banking app to check the joint account I shared with Mark. But when I saw the balance, I was completely stunned. $36,217. We had been married for five years. Our combined income was over $30,000 a month. Even after daily expenses and his car payment, we should have easily had a six-figure savings account after five years. But now, there was only this pathetic fraction left. My heart sank, inch by inch. I immediately called Mark. He picked up, his voice still laced with anger. “What? Figured it out? Ready to apologize to my mom?” I ignored his yelling and asked directly: “Where is the money in our joint account?” Mark noticeably paused. “What money? Isn’t it all in the card?” “Mark, I’m going to ask you one more time. Where is the money?” My voice was ice cold. He must have heard that something was seriously wrong with my tone, and started stammering. “It… it didn’t go anywhere…” “It’s just… my brother wanted to buy a car a while ago, so I helped him out a bit.” “And, my parents wanted to renovate their old house back home, so I took some out for that too…” “We’re all family, we shouldn’t keep such strict accounts…” My heart felt like it was being sawed in half with a blunt knife. So that was it. So the money I had worked so hard to save up became his capital to subsidize his family. He used my money to play the “good son” and the “great brother” for his family. Yet, when my uncle’s family was waiting for life-saving money, he spewed those cold, cruel words. I finally understood. In his heart, we were never a family. I was just an outsider, a host providing blood and flesh for him and his family. This realization struck me like lightning, leaving me freezing cold. I couldn’t rely on him. There was only one way left. Sell this condo. I opened my laptop and started searching for real estate agents online. This place held all my youth and memories. It was my only safe harbor. Now, it was going to be used to save another family member’s life. I thought, if this condo had feelings, it would support me too. Mark quickly found out what I was doing. Probably through my browser history on the shared iPad. He charged into the study like an enraged lion. “Chloe! Don’t you dare!” He pointed at the agent’s contact info on the screen, his eyes bloodshot. “Let me tell you, you are not selling this condo!” “Don’t even think about it!” I looked up, meeting his gaze calmly. “Mark, we’re done.” My relationship with him had completely frozen over the moment he insulted my uncle. And now, we had fallen into an bottomless abyss below that freezing point. 4 Mark and my mother-in-law, in order to stop me from selling the house, began an absurd farce. They shadowed me constantly. If I went to the bathroom, Susan stood guard at the door. If I went to the kitchen for water, Mark followed right behind me. They acted like two prison guards, treating me like a maximum-security inmate. Even worse, they confiscated my driver’s license, my passport, and the original property deed. “Chloe, let’s see how you sell the house without these!” Mark locked the documents in his personal safe, wearing the smirk of a victor. Susan chimed in: “Exactly! Let’s see what you can do now!” “Just sit quietly at home and stop having these wild ideas.” They thought this would completely control me. I didn’t fight back. I didn’t even argue with them. I just watched them in silence, like watching a ridiculous comedy. My compliance made them drop their guard. They assumed I had finally surrendered and started parading around me, gloating. They mocked me daily, their words full of contempt and humiliation. “An orphan who thinks she’s somebody.” “If it wasn’t for our Mark, you’d still be living in that dump of a studio.” “Now that your wings are fully grown, you think you can just kick the Millers to the curb?” I listened silently, recording everything in my mind. But my eyes grew colder by the day. They didn’t know I had already reported my driver’s license lost and requested a replacement. The new ID was sitting quietly in the hidden compartment of a tote bag I used often. They also didn’t know that for something as important as a property deed, there was no way I wouldn’t have a backup plan. Copies, the original purchase agreement, and all related documents—I had duplicates hidden in a place they would never think to look. I used the time when Mark was at work and Susan was out grocery shopping to secretly meet with several real estate agents. I chose an experienced, reliable-looking senior agent, Sarah. I told her my entire situation. After listening, Sarah was furious. “Honey, don’t worry.” “I see this kind of stuff all the time.” “Not having the original deed is a bit of a hassle, but it’s not impossible.” “As long as you have the purchase agreement and your ID, we can sign a listing agreement first.” “I’ll help you navigate the rest of the process slowly.” Under the agent’s guidance, I prepared all the necessary listing materials. Mark and his mother knew absolutely nothing about this. They were still intoxicated by the thrill of controlling everything. Watching their smug, petty faces, I felt no anger, only a bone-deep coldness. That afternoon, while Susan was napping and Mark hadn’t gotten off work yet. I slipped out of the house and signed an exclusive listing agreement with Sarah. The moment I signed my name. I knew my counterattack had officially begun. Step one went even smoother than I had imagined.

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After graduating high school, I finally received my long-awaited acceptance letter to West Point. But just a few days into cadet basic training, my best friend filed a formal whistleblower complaint against me. She claimed my dad was a drug addict and a cartel trafficker. I was pulled out of training and interrogated by the academy brass. But not only did I return safely, they also guaranteed me a highly coveted placement in an elite Military Intelligence graduate fellowship. My best friend was completely dumbfounded. My dad was indeed a drug dealer. But he was a heroic undercover DEA agent who sacrificed his life in the line of duty. … 1 When I received my acceptance letter, my mother and I hugged and cried tears of joy at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, standing right in front of the blank plaque dedicated to unnamed heroes. I thought I was finally beginning a brand-new chapter of my life, but I never expected what would happen next. Just a few days into training, the academy received a formal, signed complaint. It stated that before his death, my father was not only a junkie but an active cartel smuggler, and that I had absolutely no right to be a cadet at the United States Military Academy. The complaint demanded my immediate expulsion and a public statement of condemnation. At the same time, the whistleblower posted an exposé video on social media, sparking a massive viral uproar. I was out at the firing range, completely oblivious to the storm raging online. Suddenly, I was surrounded by several Tactical Officers. Under the watchful eyes of my entire company, I was escorted away in total bewilderment. Inside a massive conference room, the Commandant of Cadets and several high-ranking officers sat in a row, their faces grim. Their sharp eyes sized me up relentlessly. I sat obediently across from them, too terrified to even breathe too loudly. “Cadet Mitchell, the academy has received a verified whistleblower complaint regarding your background. Are you aware of this?” I froze, completely stunned. “What? A complaint? Against me? What could I possibly be reported for?” A barrage of questions spilled out of my mouth. I had been a straight-A honors student my entire life; things like formal complaints and scandals had nothing to do with me. The Commandant’s eagle-like eyes locked onto me. “The report claims your late father was a drug addict, and that he was deeply involved in cartel smuggling and distribution. Is this true?” I sat there, paralyzed. My dad was an undercover DEA agent. His identity was highly classified, so it made sense that the academy brass didn’t know. But just as I opened my mouth to explain, I was cut off. “You don’t need to rush your excuses. We have already notified your family. We will wait until everyone arrives.” The Commandant then turned his fury on the admissions and security clearance officers. “And how exactly did your background investigators do their jobs? How does a massive security breach like this happen? This academy only accepts cadets with impeccable records. If this goes public and the media gets ahold of it, who’s taking the fall?!” The officer in charge of security clearances looked baffled. “Sir, Cadet Mitchell’s files were cleared by federal background investigators, and we have the official sign-offs from her local precinct. Procedurally, there were zero red flags.” My Tactical Officer frowned, her tone dripping with disappointment. “Kid, how many people did you have to bribe to hide this and get into this academy? If this turns out to be true, the federal consequences are going to be severe. Do you understand that?” I knew the stakes were incredibly high, but my file was genuinely clean! “Ma’am, I didn’t hide anything! It’s complicated, I—” But my TAC officer seemed convinced I was the type of person who would do whatever it took to cheat my way in. Seeing me try to “argue,” she raised a hand to silence me. “Enough. I don’t need to hear another word from you. Once your family and the federal authorities get here, the truth will come out.” Tears welled up in my eyes. But I knew I couldn’t just blurt out that my dad was an unnamed undercover hero. When my dad was murdered, I wasn’t even allowed to visit his actual grave out of fear that the cartel would track us down. It was only recently, after the entire syndicate was finally dismantled and the suspects arrested, that I could safely pay my respects at the national memorial. The clock ticked by, second by agonizing second. The conference room was eerily quiet. Then, the heavy oak doors were pushed open. Five men in federal tactical uniforms strode in. The man leading them wore a suit, a badge on his belt, and carried an aura of seasoned authority. Right behind them walked my mother. She was dressed in all black, clutching a framed portrait of my father to her chest. The picture was covered by a white cloth. I instinctively stood up, my tears finally spilling over. “Mom—” 2 My mom looked up sharply. Her eyes were swollen like walnuts. My heart broke. I rushed over and threw my arms around her and my dad’s portrait. “Mom, why did you bring Dad’s picture?” She didn’t answer me directly. She just gently stroked my hair and gave me a reassuring nod. Then, her voice rang out, neither haughty nor humble: “I am Audrey’s mother. I brought her father here with me today. If you have any questions, you can ask them right now.” A younger agent stepped forward to introduce the man in the suit. “This is Director Marcus, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Regional Office.” The academy brass immediately handed the whistleblower letter over to Director Marcus. The Commandant was about to speak, but my mom cut him off. “Hold on. Since this whistleblower made a viral spectacle out of destroying my daughter’s reputation online, clearing her name must be broadcast live to the public as well!” Since the federal agents and academy leadership didn’t object, the academy’s communications team set up a live stream on their official social media account, per my mom’s request. By the time everything was set up, the hallway outside the glass doors was packed with curious cadets, and hundreds of thousands of civilians had flooded into the live stream to watch the drama unfold. Then, the doors opened one more time. A young police officer walked in. Following right behind him was Chloe Bennett, the girl who had been raised in my home since childhood. Chloe was my age. Her parents had died when she was very young, and my mom, taking pity on her, had brought her into our home. We grew up sharing meals, sharing rooms; whatever I had, she had. I honestly felt she had it worse than me. Even though neither of us had a father, at least I still had my biological mother. So, I always made sure she got the best of everything first. Getting into West Point was our shared dream. But during the final admissions process, her SATs and physical fitness scores fell short, and she was rejected. I originally thought she had been called in just to support us as family. But the police officer’s next words froze me in my tracks. “Director, the whistleblower, Chloe Bennett, has been brought in.” My mom and I stared at her, our eyes wide with sheer shock. “Chloe… you? How could it be you? You know my dad…” Her face was a mask of cold apathy. She completely avoided our eyes. Instead, she stood perfectly straight facing the live-stream camera, her voice vibrating with manic excitement. “It’s exactly because I know too much that I couldn’t let you keep lying to the world! West Point is a sacred institution for the best and brightest. I refuse to let it be tainted by the daughter of a cartel criminal!” “If a drug dealer’s daughter slips through the cracks, how could we ever face the real, unnamed heroes who sacrificed their lives to keep our country safe?!” Whispers instantly erupted from the cadets out in the hall. “Oh my god, who was protecting Audrey all this time? Her family’s reach must be insane to beat a federal background check!” “You can hide for a while, but you can’t hide forever. Look, it only took a few days for her to get busted.” “Wow, Audrey really shot herself in the foot. And her mom actually brought the drug dealer dad’s portrait here? They’re insane!” Hearing the venomous comments from the doorway made my blood boil. I pointed directly at Chloe, my voice trembling with rage. “Chloe, you backstabbing snake! My mom raised you for over a decade! Did you feed your conscience to the dogs?!” Chloe didn’t flinch. She puffed out her chest and held her chin high. “Don’t try to guilt-trip me! Every dime you spent on my food and clothes, I’ll pay back double once I get a job. But! You can’t erase the fact that your dad was a cartel smuggler! You simply have no right to study here!” My mom stared at the adopted daughter she had loved for years, the very person sliding a knife into her back. The betrayal was so agonizing she could barely breathe. Her voice shook violently. “Chloe… I know you were devastated when your academy application was rejected. But you still had me! I supported your decision to reapply next year. I already paid your tuition for the best prep school in the state!” “But you never, ever should have tried to destroy Audrey’s future just to satisfy your own bitter jealousy!” 3 Chloe rolled her eyes at my mom and immediately distanced herself. “First of all, you are not my mother. You aren’t even legally my foster mom. The moment I found out you had a cartel trafficker for a husband, I cut all ties with your family!” “Besides, you kept me for over a decade—did you even file the proper adoption paperwork? Officers, I seriously suspect I was kidnapped by this woman!” Chloe’s vicious words shredded my mom’s heart. Her vision blurred, and she almost collapsed on the spot. We simply couldn’t fathom how Chloe had morphed into a completely different human being overnight. Before this, we were the closest of sisters. She had sworn to me time and time again that she would take care of my mom like her own flesh and blood. The live chat on the screen was scrolling at lightspeed. “Wow, putting country over family! What a brave girl. West Point should have accepted her instead!” “If the academy covers for Audrey, it’s a massive insult to every other cadet! They need to make an example out of this fraud!” “Don’t worry, sweetie! Even if the Mitchells cut you off, we’ll crowdfund your college tuition!” My mom clutched her chest, swaying unsteadily and gasping for air. I quickly helped her sit down in a chair. Cadets outside pulled out their phones, recording us. “Look at her acting like she’s fainting. She knows she’s busted.” “It makes me sick to think we were almost classmates with a cartel brat.” “That’s not even the worst part. The worst part is people like her graduating and infiltrating high-level government jobs. They’re a cancer to society!” The malice surrounding us was suffocating. I finally snapped and screamed at the top of my lungs: “ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!” The hallway fell silent for a split second, but a moment later, the jeering came back twice as loud. “A drug dealer’s daughter acting tough?!” “Just wait until they throw the book at you! Your whole family belongs in federal prison!” I covered my mom’s ears and screamed back at the crowd. “Right now, this is nothing but Chloe’s one-sided claim! The federal agents haven’t even issued a verdict, so who gave you the right to act like judge, jury, and executioner?! How is this any different from a digital lynch mob?!” “West Point does not need cadets who blindly attack others without knowing the truth!” For a moment, they finally shut their mouths. Seeing the narrative slightly shifting, Chloe panicked. “Stop trying to stall for time! Do you dare look everyone in the eye and say I’m framing you? Do you dare say your dad was completely clean?!” Looking at Chloe’s smug, venomous face, my mom couldn’t hold back anymore. She lunged forward and slapped Chloe hard across the cheek. “Chloe Bennett, from this day forward, you have absolutely nothing to do with our family!” Chloe looked completely unfazed. She covered her cheek, putting on a fake, sorrowful expression. “Mrs. Mitchell, you don’t need to tell me. I was going to sever ties with criminals anyway.” Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Director Marcus cleared his throat loudly. He stepped forward and, with one swift motion, pulled the white cloth off my dad’s framed portrait. The entire room let out a collective gasp. The Commandant and the academy brass instinctively shot up from their seats. Director Marcus stared at the portrait with deep reverence for a few seconds. Then, he ordered Chloe to step closer. “Miss Bennett, look very closely. Is the man in this picture the man you reported? Audrey’s father, David Mitchell?” Chloe only glanced at it for a second before nodding emphatically. She pointed a finger at my dad’s face. “Yes! That’s him! David Mitchell, that damn drug dealer.” But she was so focused on his face that she completely ignored the DEA dress uniform he was wearing, and the Medal of Valor pinned proudly to his chest! Director Marcus’s expression turned terrifyingly stern. He stared Chloe down for a long moment before his voice boomed with absolute, unyielding authority. “Chloe Bennett is absolutely correct! David Mitchell was deeply involved in the drug trade, narcotics distribution, and cartel smuggling!” The cadets in the hall who couldn’t see the portrait erupted into chaos. The live stream chat practically exploded. 4 “BUT—!!” I looked over at my mom. With tear-filled eyes, she was gently tracing the glass over my dad’s face. In that moment, my heart felt like it was being pierced by a thousand blades. Director Marcus raised a hand, demanding total silence. “This operation was highly classified, but the child of a fallen hero should never be subjected to such vile slander!” “Special Agent David Mitchell was a deep-cover operative deployed by the Drug Enforcement Administration.” “He was an exceptionally brilliant undercover agent who, over a decade ago, was brutally tortured and murdered during a cartel takedown, making the ultimate sacrifice for his country!” “To infiltrate and dismantle the syndicate, Agent Mitchell willingly walked into hell, living among monsters to provide the federal government with critical intelligence. Tragically…” Director Marcus’s voice broke. He couldn’t finish the sentence. He turned away and silently wiped the tears from his eyes. Everyone in the room was paralyzed. For ten agonizing minutes, there was absolute, pin-drop silence. The only sound echoing in the massive conference room was my mother’s quiet, broken sobbing. “David… David…” I looked away, unable to bear looking at my dad’s picture. If my dad were still alive and saw my mom and me being cornered and attacked like this, it would have shattered his heart. If my dad were still here, he never would have allowed this to happen. “That’s impossible! David Mitchell was a drug dealer! How could he be an undercover cop?!” Chloe shook her head violently, refusing to accept reality. “Were you bribed?! Yes, they must have paid you off!” “NO—! You’re just their corrupt protection umbrella!” Director Marcus’s eyes narrowed into daggers, terrifying her into immediate silence. “Young lady, you can eat whatever garbage you want, but you watch your mouth! As the Special Agent in Charge, my record is spotless. If you have any doubts, file a formal complaint against me with the Inspector General! I welcome any federal investigation!” “But! Special Agent David Mitchell gave his life for this country, and I will absolutely not allow you to desecrate his memory to satisfy your own selfish jealousy!” Director Marcus walked over to my mom and delivered a crisp, precise salute to the portrait. “Mrs. Mitchell, we allowed you and your daughter to suffer this indignity. This is a failure on our part. We failed to protect the family of our fallen brother!” I gently rubbed my mom’s shoulders as she wiped her tears. “The agency has taken wonderful care of us over the years. We have more than enough. If my daughter hadn’t been falsely accused and David’s name hadn’t been dragged through the mud today, I never would have bothered you to come all the way out here.” Director Marcus waved his hand dismissively, taking off his suit jacket and hiding his face as fresh tears fell. “Please, never say that. We were so focused on protecting the identities of our fallen agents’ families that we never anticipated those very protocols being weaponized to frame you. I am deeply ashamed.” “If you or Audrey ever need anything, my door is always open. David Mitchell made the ultimate sacrifice; his family should never be bullied!” “We cannot let our heroes bleed for us, only to let their families cry alone!” The cadets in the hallway, who had been screaming for my expulsion just moments ago, flushed bright red. They silently lowered their heads in deep shame. The live stream chat did a massive 180-degree turn. “Guys, I’m not just saying this in hindsight, but from the very beginning, Audrey and her mom looked way too dignified to be criminals. Chloe, on the other hand, had ‘bitter snake’ written all over her face.” “Where are all the people who were trashing Audrey earlier?! Get in here and apologize right now!” “Apologize! I live in a border town, and it’s because of these undercover agents that we can sleep safely at night! I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting a hero’s kid!” The cadets at the door began pointing angry fingers at Chloe. Her face was ghastly pale. She practically jumped into the air, screaming defensively: “You hypocrites! Why didn’t you say that five minutes ago?! I lived with the Mitchells for over a decade, don’t you think I would know the truth?!” Director Marcus snapped at her, his voice cold and severe: “Undercover narcotics agents are the most vulnerable targets in law enforcement! To prevent cartels from retaliating against their families, we can’t even give them marked headstones! Since you lived with them for a decade, didn’t you ever notice that Audrey and her mother never went to a cemetery on Memorial Day?!” “You stubbornly refuse to admit your malice! What exactly is your agenda here?!”

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To elope with a broke scholarship student, the Upper East Side princess slashed my face and used my parents’ lives to threaten me. “As long as you get plastic surgery to look exactly like me and take my place to marry the Manhattan heir, I’ll let your parents go.” As I was fighting back with everything I had, a translucent text box suddenly floated across my vision like a live stream comment: [The Upper East Side princess is so foolish! When she and that guy elope, their boat is going to get hit by a freak tsunami. Not only will she die without a trace, but she’ll lose her status as the main character!] [The Manhattan heir is the actual male lead of this story. Why is she choosing the broke side-character instead?] [This random girl with the slashed face is about to hit the jackpot. If she agrees to the surgery, she can take the princess’s place, marry into a billionaire family, and live a life of luxury.] I covered my bloody, ruined face and made my decision without a second of hesitation. “Take me to get the surgery right now. I will study you perfectly. I guarantee no one will ever find a single flaw.” Since she was practically shoving unimaginable wealth into my hands… I would gladly take it. … My words made the floating comments explode: [No way, is this random extra, Harper, really this bold? She actually dares to take the princess’s place in the arranged marriage?] [If anyone finds out Harper is a plastic surgery fake, she and her parents are definitely going to die a horrible death.] Since that was the case, I would just have to work incredibly hard to ensure no one ever found out I was a fake. I looked at the princess, Serena Sterling, and asked: “Just looking like you isn’t enough; there will definitely be flaws. What if someone realizes I’m a fake and they drag you back here?” Serena frowned, clearly realizing I had a point. I seized the opportunity to suggest: “How about you train me properly? Teach me your way of speaking, your fashion sense, your hobbies, and tell me everything about your friends and family.” “If I can mimic you flawlessly from every angle, I can guarantee it’s foolproof.” Serena agreed immediately: “We’ll do it your way. The wedding isn’t for another three months anyway. During your surgical recovery, I can train you thoroughly.” Having achieved her goal, she unlocked the heavy chains binding my parents. “Harper, if you had just agreed sooner, your family wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.” By this point, my parents were covered in blood and barely clinging to life. Yet, they were still begging Serena: “Please, let Harper go. We’re begging you…” Serena kicked them in disgust. “I chose Harper to be my double. That is a blessing for low-class trash like you. You should be thanking me.” I knelt beside my parents, a fierce hatred surging in my heart. Simply because my eyes, height, and voice were an eighty-percent match to hers, Serena had ruthlessly targeted me. My family was desperately poor. We had no relatives. My parents had raised me by collecting recycling. For Serena, torturing us was easier than stepping on an ant. Thank God for those floating comments. They made me change my mind just in time to save my parents’ lives. When I lay down on the operating table, the comments were still whining: [Can the princess please wake up? The Manhattan heir is tall, rich, handsome, and an absolute boss! I don’t want to see Harper get this lucky break!] Tall, rich, handsome, and an absolute boss? That sounded perfect. I endured the agonizing pain of having my bones shaved and flesh altered, closing my eyes in pure anticipation. From this moment on, I was no longer pathetic, poor Harper. I was going to replace the hopelessly romantic Serena and become the true Upper East Side princess. The Manhattan heir she didn’t want to marry? I would marry him. The luxurious life she didn’t want to live? I would live it for her! Starting the very next day, Serena put me through intense, high-pressure training. “I’ve been driving sports cars on tracks since I was eighteen. Get your driver’s license immediately, and spend three hours every day practicing high-speed driving techniques.” “Your working-class accent is atrocious. Fix your enunciation and learn conversational French. If you embarrass me at a high-society event and make my dad look bad, I’ll kill you!” “Do you know fine dining etiquette? Do you know the unspoken rules of the elite social circles? Have you seriously never had a manicure before?” As Serena trained me, she started losing her temper. “I am incredibly picky about what I eat, wear, and where I live. You reek of poverty. How are you ever going to mimic me?” I humbled myself and coaxed her: “I can do it! Even if I have to skip sleep, I will study relentlessly to meet your standards.” I knew the gap between me and Serena was massive. But I wasn’t afraid. I forced myself to sleep only two hours a night. Besides driving and fixing my accent, I started learning French and finance from scratch. I also devoured high-end fashion magazines, memorized every luxury brand, and watched countless videos on elite etiquette. Relying on sheer willpower and determination… A month later. I successfully got my license, my accent was flawless, and the timid look in my eyes was mostly gone. Serena was quite satisfied with this. “I didn’t expect you to take this so seriously. Let’s move to the next stage.” She brought over a mountain of files and photographs. “This is my family tree. You need to recognize every single one of these relatives. They give me massive checks during the holidays. If you mistake one of them, you’re dead.” “These are the Sterling family’s major business partners. You have to know exactly how to flatter each of them, or my parents will be furious.” “And these are the files and background info on my fiancé. Study them carefully and handle him properly for me.” I stared at the photo of the Manhattan heir, Julian… wait, no, Carter… Carter Vanderbilt, and set a goal for myself. As long as I could secure this man and give him a few children, then even if someone discovered my true identity in the future, with the children as my trump card, I could at least save my life and my parents’ lives. Speaking of my parents, they hadn’t received any medical treatment since they were beaten. Serena watched me too closely; she absolutely forbade me from taking care of them. I could only occasionally sneak out to bring them some medicine and food. “Don’t worry,” I told them. “Once I become Serena Sterling, I will make sure you live a good life.” For my sake and my parents’ sake, I was highly motivated, wishing I could utilize all twenty-four hours of the day. As the scabs on my face gradually fell off, the broke student started getting worried. “This Harper looks way too much like you after the surgery. What if she takes this opportunity to replace you and steal your inheritance?” The comments were also anxious: [The male side-character needs to talk some sense into the princess! It’s obvious Harper is scheming. She’s working so hard because she clearly wants to steal the nest!] [Can someone please tell the princess she’s going to die in a tsunami?! I’m dying of anxiety here!] Serena dismissed these concerns entirely. “Do you really think I can’t handle a piece of trash who grew up picking garbage? Don’t worry, I have a plan.” She grabbed me by the throat, her tone vicious. “I’m giving you a bank account number. Once you infiltrate my family, every dollar my family gives you and every cent of the wedding dowry must be transferred to me.” “If I find out you’ve kept a single dime for yourself, I will come back immediately, expose your identity, and make sure your entire family dies without a burial place!” With that, she shoved me away, linked arms with the broke student, and smiled sweetly at him. “From now on, that garbage-picker will be sending us a continuous stream of money. We can travel the world and live happily ever after without a care in the world!” On the surface, I agreed obediently. Internally, I couldn’t stop sneering. If Serena knew she was going to die very soon, and that I was going to completely replace her… I wonder, would she still be smiling? Soon, my surgical wounds were completely healed. Every word and action of mine now carried the effortless grace of a billionaire heiress. I learned how to do my own flawless skincare and makeup, how to style myself impeccably, and how to put on airs and act spoiled. I could recognize every relative and friend in Serena’s orbit. I knew the executives and subordinates at the Sterling corporation better than Serena herself did. As the wedding date drew closer, Serena was eager to put me to the test. “Tonight, my family is officially meeting with the Vanderbilt family to discuss the wedding details. You better perform perfectly!” The comments were still holding out hope: [I hope Harper makes a ton of mistakes tonight and gets exposed as a fake. That way, our princess can still be saved.] [Harper’s poverty is baked into her bones. Carter Vanderbilt is definitely going to notice. I can’t wait to watch Harper make a fool of herself.] None of the comments believed in me. But I proved them all wrong. From driving home, acting spoiled with Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, to helping “my mom” pick out a dress and do her makeup… Throughout the entire process, not a single person in the Sterling family doubted that I was a fake. If I could pass the Sterling family’s test, I definitely wasn’t worried about the Vanderbilts. Before we left, Mrs. Sterling asked me with deep concern: “Sweetheart, have you cut ties completely with that scholarship student?” “You were throwing tantrums and threatening to cancel the engagement before. Now you’re suddenly being so cooperative. Are you plotting something again?” Mimicking Serena’s tone, I raised my chin arrogantly. “Mom, can’t you have a little faith in me? No matter how much I act out, I know what’s important! I wouldn’t literally anger you and Dad to death over some broke guy!” “Besides, Carter Vanderbilt is actually gorgeous enough to meet my standards. Marrying him isn’t exactly a loss for me.” That spoiled, bratty, yet clever demeanor was so perfect that even the real Serena would have had to admit defeat. It made Mrs. Sterling smile with relief. “That’s my good girl. Here, take this five million and go buy yourself a new car.” As soon as the money hit my account, I transferred it to Serena. Serena was satisfied and told me to perform well tonight. When we sat down at the dinner table, I knew Carter was observing me, so I deliberately acted aloof and ignored him. During the meal, I was extremely careful to avoid all the foods Serena disliked. It wasn’t until the topic shifted to the wedding budget that Carter actively spoke to me: “My current budget is eighty million dollars. Does Miss Sterling have any thoughts on this?” I curled my lips into a sneer: “Eighty million? Are you trying to pay off a beggar? I spend more than eighty million just throwing a fireworks party. If you want to marry me, you need to show the highest level of sincerity.” That haughty, arrogant attitude actually made Carter narrow his eyes in appreciation. “Alright. Then I’ll set the wedding budget at five hundred million, with no upper limit.” I slapped the table playfully. “Come sit over here. How are we supposed to discuss details from so far away?” “I want the top designers for my wedding dress. If it isn’t covered in diamonds, I’m not wearing it.” Carter gave a knowing smile and moved to sit beside me. The comments were panicking: [Harper has truly mastered the essence of the princess! Neither the Sterlings nor the Vanderbilts can tell she’s a fake. What if she actually marries Carter?] [Can the princess please punish Harper? It’s obvious this ugly duckling really wants to climb the social ladder using Carter!] The Vanderbilt family was extremely pleased with me and transferred a ten-million-dollar pre-wedding gift on the spot. As soon as the meeting ended, I transferred the money to Serena. “Harper, you did well tonight. It was practically indistinguishable from the real thing.” I thought Serena had lowered her guard. But suddenly, her expression changed, and she slapped me hard across the face. “Remember your place. A fake is a fake; it can never become real.” “Your only purpose for breathing is to get married for me, and then transfer money to me to keep your pathetic parents alive.” With that, she actually had my parents dragged out again. Right in front of me, she brutally shattered one of my father’s legs. “If I ever find out you’re trying to use this opportunity to actually replace me, I’ll shatter the remaining three legs between your parents!” Amidst my parents’ agonizing screams, I wiped my tears and humiliatingly kowtowed to her. “I’ll do whatever you say. I will absolutely never covet things that don’t belong to me.” Serena tossed all her ID documents to me, confiscated my original IDs, and began finalizing her elopement plan. Through the floating comments, I learned that she and the broke student had booked passage on a smuggling boat and had already secured a house abroad. Following Serena’s instructions, I sold all her valuable designer bags and jewelry and transferred every cent into her account. During this time, I relentlessly paved my own way. Whenever I returned to the Sterling mansion, I secretly collected strands of the real Serena’s hair, keeping them safe for future emergencies. The comments grew more and more anxious: [The more I look at this Harper, the more I realize she’s not a good person. The princess is raising a tiger that’s going to bite her.] [If the princess just looked at the weather forecast before setting her itinerary, she could avoid the tsunami entirely!] I counted down the days to the elopement, my heart pounding with excitement. As long as Serena got on that boat and died in the tsunami, I would never have to live in fear again. I seized every opportunity to heat things up with Carter. However, Carter was a man of deep mystery. One day, he actually said to me: “Miss Sterling, you are quite different from what I imagined.” I used a spoiled pout to mask my panic and asked him how I was different. “According to my investigations, you were deeply in love with a scholarship student and even wanted to break off our engagement for him.” “I wonder what made you change your mind and agree to marry me?” I scoffed, putting on a look of sheer disgust. “Can we not talk about that broke ex-boyfriend? It’s bad luck. Or do you have some weird fetish for being cheated on?” Carter stared at me meaningfully. “Since you hate your ex-boyfriend so much, I’ll keep an eye on him for you. I won’t let him harass you ever again.” I forced down my panic, treating Carter’s words as a joke. In our subsequent interactions, I started casually bringing up the broke student occasionally, just to keep Carter from getting suspicious. After a few more grueling days, the day of Serena’s elopement finally arrived. According to plan, I stayed over at Carter’s penthouse that night. I wanted to take this opportunity to solidify our relationship by sleeping with him, while the comments were live-streaming the elopement process. [It makes me so mad seeing Harper kissing and hugging Carter! She’s here cuddling a billionaire, while the real princess has to sneak onto a boat to elope.] [Sigh, the princess finally boarded the boat of no return. The tsunami is approaching. My main character is really going to die like this…] Seeing the comments confirm that Serena’s boat had set sail, the massive boulder weighing on my heart finally lifted. After tonight, I would be the true Serena Sterling! No one would ever harm my family again, and I would never have to be anyone’s dog. The future waiting for me was filled with endless wealth and glory. Suppressing my inner excitement, I was about to continue kissing Carter when his assistant suddenly knocked frantically on the door. “Mr. Vanderbilt, it’s an emergency! That broke scholarship student eloped with Serena Sterling! Someone saw them boarding a boat heading out of the country!” My body went completely rigid, my mind descending into chaos. I had calculated everything, but I hadn’t calculated this. Carter wasn’t joking; he was actually having the broke student followed! If Carter decided to investigate this to the bottom, I would definitely be exposed! If that happened, not only would all my hard work be for nothing, but my family of three wouldn’t escape a gruesome death… Just as I was panicking, Carter gave me a confused look, then opened the door and questioned his assistant: “Are you certain the woman eloping is my fiancée, Serena Sterling?” “Positive! I received photos!” Carter took the phone, and his expression instantly froze. The next second, he grabbed my wrist with a vicious grip. “If the woman eloping is Serena Sterling, then who are you?” My heart leapt into my throat. At the same time, the comments scrolled frantically across my vision.

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The double doors of the operating room were swinging open when the cardiac surgeon paused and glanced back at me. “She hasn’t had anything to eat this morning, right? Routine NPO check.” I was about to shake my head, ready to give the standard confirmation we’d rehearsed for weeks. Then my mother stepped forward, flashing a bright, casual smile. “Actually, she did. I saw her drink a bottle of milk about an hour ago.” The entire hallway went dead silent. My daughter, Maya, has suffered from congenital heart disease since birth. We had spent five agonizing years on the transplant list. Today, against all odds, we finally had a matching heart. My husband and I had just finished the mountain of admission paperwork and paid the staggering deposit, leaving my mother in the hospital room to watch Maya for just twenty minutes. All the pre-op physicals were perfect. The doctor was just performing a final, routine check before pushing the gurney through. And then my mother open her mouth. It was her oldest, ugliest habit resurfacing at the worst possible moment. 1 My brain started to buzz, the sound drowning out the hospital ambiance. I couldn’t tell if my mother was making a sick joke or telling the truth. Her entire life, she had been a compulsive, pathological liar. It didn’t matter the setting or the stakes; she had to insert herself, twist the narrative, and command attention. She wouldn’t stop until she pushed people to their absolute breaking point. And when they finally snapped, she’d put on that mask of wide-eyed innocence and laugh. “Oh, relax. Can’t you take a joke? I was just playing with you.” But this wasn’t Thanksgiving dinner. This was different. My daughter, Maya, was at the end of her rope. Born with a failing heart, we had waited five years for this transplant. The donor heart was on a timer, rapidly degrading with every minute it was out of ice. Before the surgery, the transplant coordinator had emphasized NPO status—nothing by mouth—fifty times. Eating before an organ transplant isn’t just a complication; it ruins the surgery’s chance of success and can kill the patient during anesthesia. Maya was too weak to even argue. She lay on the gurney, her face a ghostly gray, her lips tinged with a terrifying shade of blue. She was dying. There was no time for jokes. Sure enough, the surgeon’s expression plummeted. He looked from my mother to me, his voice stern. “I am asking again, for the record. Has this child ingested anything since midnight?” I opened my mouth to say no, but my mother chirped in again, actually chuckling this time. “She did. Just a small bottle of milk. Aren’t you doctors supposed to be smart? Can’t you just test for that?” My husband and I stood rooted to the spot, completely paralyzed. The surgeon’s face went grim. He turned to the head nurse immediately. “Roll her back out. Scrub the surgery. We need a full gastric re-evaluation.” Maya lay under the thin hospital sheet, too weak to speak, her eyes fluttering shut. Seeing her like that sent a tremor through my entire body. “Mom!” I screamed, the panic stripping my voice raw. “What is wrong with you? Why would you lie about this? The tests were all clear! Just say she didn’t eat, and she can go in!” “Maya has waited five years! If she doesn’t get this heart now, she won’t survive!” Hearing this, my mother actually started laughing. “Who’s lying? I have never lied in my life. Cross my heart and hope to die.” My mother-in-law, standing nearby, whispered, terror in her voice, “She didn’t really eat, did she? The doctors were so clear about the dangers. Eating before surgery is a death sentence.” I looked at my mother-in-law, my fists clenching so hard my nails drew blood. I knew Maya hadn’t eaten. I had收收收 (cleaned out) the entire room myself. But my mother was doubling down, insisting Maya had a bottle of milk. Even though the pre-op physical was fine, the hospital couldn’t take the risk. They had to assume NPO was violated. Cardiac transplants are races against a stopwatch. Maya’s biological heart was running out of time. She was only seven years old. Because of her condition, she’d never had ice cream, never run through a sprinkler, never gone to a playground. Just last night, she had whispered to me, hoping the surgery would work so I could finally teach her how to ride a bike. If we missed this donor heart… would she ever get another chance? As the head nurse started to turn the gurney around, I lunged forward, grabbing the side rail, my voice shaking. “Doctor, Maya did not eat. I swear to you on my life.” “My mother… she has issues. Ever since my father died, she’s become a pathological liar. Please, do not listen to her.” “I’ve had the NPO requirements memorized for years. I haven’t let a single drop of water touch her lips since last night. How could I possibly let her have milk?” Tears streamed down my face, hot and fast. “Doctor, my daughter has waited five years for this heart. We finally have hope. Please, please don’t abandon her because of my mother’s delusion!” Maya was so tiny under the sheets, shivering, unable to even cry out loud. The surgeon paused, scowling. He looked at me, then turned his gaze to my mother. Suddenly, Maya’s monitor let out a sharp, warning beep. The head nurse checked the readings, her face going pale. “Chief, her O2 stats are dropping fast.” She stared at the monitor, took a deep breath, and shouted to the hallway, demanding an answer. “I am asking one last time! From last night until now, did the patient ingest anything?” “This is not a joke. If she is disqualified for the transplant, this heart goes to the next person on the list immediately.” 2 Pathological lying. Over the years, I had suffered immensely because of my mother’s sickness. On my wedding day. My mother took my husband’s hand, crying, and told him how sorry she was that he wasn’t the first man to lie with me. My husband’s face went rigid. Seeing his reaction, my mother clapped her hands, laughing. “Oh, look at you! I meant her father, you idiot.” I was so angry I threatened to legally sever ties right then and there. It was my husband who held me back, saying, “It was just a bad joke, honey. Don’t take it so seriously. It’s fine.” After Maya was born, I rarely saw my mother. But when she found out about the surgery, she forced her way into the hospital, insisting on seeing her granddaughter. I only found out she was there after I finished paying the admission fees. My heart sank, but I consoled myself. Maya was her own flesh and blood; she wouldn’t gamble with her granddaughter’s life. Everything was going smoothly. All the physicals were green-lit. We were home free. Then, just as Maya was being pushed into the operating room, my mother’s old sickness flared up. I walked over to her, my vision blurred by tears, my voice shaking uncontrollably. “Mom, I am begging you. Tell the truth, please.” “After I paid the bills, I never left Maya’s side. I know she didn’t eat. Stop lying, please.” My husband rushed over too, his eyes red and frantic. “Mom, please. Just tell the truth. If Maya misses this heart, she won’t get another chance!” My mother leaned against the hospital wall, crossing her arms and shrugging. “Why is everyone so tense? I was just trying to lighten the mood, make everyone smile.” “You know what they say: laughter is the best medicine.” Maya’s gurney was moving down the hall, headed back for gastric tests she couldn’t afford. My mother finally dropped the smirk, lazily waving a hand. “Fine, fine. I’ll stop playing.” Relief flooded through me, momentarily. Then she looked at me, taking her sweet time before adding: “She did drink it, though. If you don’t believe me, smell her hands. They still smell like milk.” The surgeon’s face was total granite. He turned and marched toward the phone at the nurse’s station. I ran and blocked his path. “Doctor! Please, wait just one more minute! I can fix this, I can get the truth!” He looked at me, eyes blazing with fury. “Transplant surgery is not playtime! Do you understand that every minute you waste here is a minute of ischemic time on that donor heart? You are literally throwing away her chance at survival!” I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Behind me, my mother’s voice floated through the hallway. “Oh, honestly, you’re a doctor. Can’t you take a joke? Look at you all, hysterical over nothing.” “Fine, I’ll stop lying to you.” “Maya didn’t actually have milk. But she did say she was thirsty this morning, so I slipped her a cup of water when you weren’t looking.” With that, she actually giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. My brain felt like it was going to explode. The room spun. To prevent Maya from accidentally eating or drinking anything before surgery, I had removed everything from the hospital room. Not even a bottle of water was left. Even the nightstand drawers were empty. I had checked my mother’s purse three times myself. It contained a portable charger, her blood pressure meds, and a pack of tissues. Nothing else. Where could she have gotten a cup of water to give Maya? My husband realized the logic error at the same time I did. He stared at her, eyes red with fury. “Mom, are you sure about this?” “We specifically收 (removed) all food and water from the room. Maya couldn’t have had any water. Where would you have gotten it?” Hearing his accusation, my mother instantly went on the defensive, her logic evaporating into narcissistic rage. “What does that mean? Are you calling me a liar?” “When I got to the hospital this morning, Maya was begging for water, wasn’t she? Her voice was hoarse. You parents might be cold-hearted enough to watch your own child suffer, but I am her grandmother! I cannot stand by and watch my granddaughter suffer!” “I was kind enough to give her a sip of water, and you dare blame me? Since you all hate me so much, maybe I should just run headfirst into this wall and end it all.” With that, she turned toward the hospital wall, acting as if she were about to ram it with her head. My husband turned pale and frantically rushed to grab her. “Mom, I didn’t mean it like that, please, don’t be angry…” My mother-in-law also rushed over to restrain her. “Please, Susan, don’t be impulsive.” With them physically holding her back, my mother’s dramatic episode subsided into sniffles. The medical staff stood watching this insane drama, completely unsure of what to do. But Maya’s clock was ticking. The donor heart was degrading. The longer we waited, the lower the success rate. The head nurse finally spoke up, her voice stern. “Ma’am, are you absolutely certain you gave the child water?” Instead of answering, my mother rolled her eyes. “You want to know? Go test her. You’re a hospital. Don’t you have scanners and CT machines that can see inside her? Stop asking me and do your job!” Then she turned to me with a triumphant look. “See? You think I’m making things up? Let the doctor test her. Then we’ll all know the truth!” I knew we could re-test her. I knew a simple ultrasound could confirm an empty stomach. But Maya didn’t just need this heart. Other patients on the list needed it too. If Maya was wheeled back for re-testing, she would be officially disqualified, flagged as non-compliant with NPO protocol. Maya would never get another chance. I stared at my mother, fighting back the urge to physically attack her. “Mom, I want you to swear to me. Swear on your life, swear on Dad’s memory, that you actually gave Maya water.” My mother was deeply, intensely superstitious. Hearing this request, she shut her mouth instantly. The arrogance left her eyes, replaced by stubborn silence. The surgeon, having seen enough of these family dynamics, understood immediately. He turned to the head nurse and ordered, “Gastric test results stand as negative. Proceed with NPO protocol. Get her in the operating room. Now.” With that, he and the nurses quickly began pushing the gurney toward the operating doors. I exhaled, stepping back against the wall to get out of the way. But then, my mother screamed. “Wait! Chloe! The doctor just said that patients who drink water can’t have surgery!” “You’re lying to the surgeon just so Maya can get this heart!” “For my own granddaughter’s safety, I must speak the truth today!” She yanked open her purse and pulled out a half-empty bottle of water. “You said Maya didn’t have any water, Chloe?” “Then what the hell is this?!” 3 The sight of that water bottle froze the hallway. The surgeon’s face went black. He shouted to his staff. “Cancel the surgery! Patient violation of NPO protocol! Inform the operating room immediately.” “And call the Organ Procurement Organization. Release this heart to the next candidate on the list.” With that, he spun around and started walking away. Seeing the doctor cancel the surgery, my mother’s dramatic facade instantly crumbled into panic. “No… wait… Doctor… you can’t be serious! You’re just going to cancel the surgery based on my word?” “I was just playing around! Why didn’t you verify it first?” “What about my granddaughter? She needs that surgery to save her life!” The fury that I had been suppressing finally erupted. I pointed my finger at her nose, screaming at the top of my lungs. “Are you done yet? Have you had enough fun?!” “Because of your insane need for attention, the doctor now has to assume NPO status was violated! The surgery is cancelled!” “Are you happy now? Are you?!” A look of genuine panic finally flashed across my mother’s face. “I… I didn’t mean for this to happen… I was just playing, why did they believe me…” “Just playing?!” My husband, usually the passive peacemaker, was shaking with pure, unadulterated rage. He looked at my mother, his eyes red with fury. “This is a hospital, Susan! Is this your idea of playtime? Your lies kill people! Do you understand that? Your granddaughter is going to die because you wanted to play a game!” “I… I wasn’t trying to do this…” my mother stammered, looking down. But I didn’t have time for her performance art. Under the bright hospital lights, Maya’s skin was turning a deeper gray. Her tiny hand, exposed on the sheet, was beginning to feel cold to the touch. “Doctor!” I spun toward the surgeon, dropping to my knees on the cold hospital floor. “I swear to you. From 10:00 last night until this exact moment, Maya has not had a single drop of water, not a single bite of food.” “I collected every single item in that room myself. I don’t know where that water bottle came from, but I can guarantee Maya never touched it.” “Please, Doctor. If Maya misses this surgery, she dies. There are no other chances for her. Please, I am begging you, save my daughter’s life…” This surgeon had managed Maya’s care since the day she was born. He knew her case better than anyone. He knew that if she didn’t get this heart today, she wouldn’t survive the week. He looked at me kneeling on the floor, then looked back at Maya’s gurney. He stood silent for two agonizing seconds, then his jaw set. “Mrs. Peterson, get up.” He barked an order to the head nurse. “Get Maya into Operating Room 3 immediately. Tell the anesthesia team to perform a rapid-sequence induction and gastric ultrasound re-evaluation, stat! We are proceeding.” As I was helped to my feet, my mother was still screaming down the hallway. “Maya drank water! She can’t have surgery! There will be complications!” “You’re so stubborn! Are you trying to kill your own daughter?!” She kept screaming, her voice raw. I didn’t answer. I didn’t even look at her. My eyes were locked on the ‘OR’ doors as the bright red light above them turned on. I began to pray, silently begging for my daughter to survive. Time stretched. Minutes felt like hours. The hospital corridor fell into a hushed silence, the only sound the soft hum of the HVAC system. And then, a thunderous crash echoed from a different floor, and the hospital was plunged into darkness. Chaos immediately erupted. Patients screamed, nurses shouted, and footsteps pounded on the stairs. A moment later, through the emergency lights, I saw my mother running toward me down the hallway, screaming at the top of her lungs, triumphant and insane. “Chloe! I did it! I shut off the main power breaker!” “Now Maya is safe! She won’t have to get the surgery!” 4 Inside the operating room, the surgical lights died. The ventilators and monitors let out one final, agonizing beep before they went silent. Maya’s vital signs were crashing. The surgeon shouted above the sudden commotion, “Switch to manual ventilation! Get the backup generators online, now!” The hallway outside was pure pandemonium. Emergency battery lights flickered to life, casting long, eerie shadows. Through the darkness, my mother appeared, her voice clear and terrifyingly rational. “Chloe, I fixed it. I went downstairs and flipped the main breaker. Now Maya won’t have to have that dangerous surgery.” My brain stalled. I stared at her, unable to process the words. “Mom… you’re telling me… you did this? You shut off the power to the entire hospital?” My mother nodded proudly, as if she had just saved the day. “Aren’t you glad? I told you she ate something. You can’t perform surgery on a child who has eaten. You refused to listen, so I had to stop the doctors myself.” My vision blurred. I almost fainted from the sheer audacity of it. My husband had to physically support me, turning a look of absolute horror toward my mother. “Mom, have you lost your mind?!” “Maya finally got her heart! She’s moments away from being free of this disease, and you cut the power? If she dies during surgery now because of this, what do we do? What is wrong with you?” My mother scoffed, crossing her arms. “Why is everyone so tens? I had a psychic reading yesterday. She said my granddaughter has a strong aura; nothing bad is going to happen to her.” “And honestly, Chloe, look around. Hospitals are just businesses. Maya’s been on meds for years and she isn’t any better, proves doctors are just in it for the money.” “If the surgery fails because of a power outage, the hospital has to refund all our money. Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know. I’m doing this for your own good.” For our own good? Hearing those words, I lost control. I stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face. “You’re doing this for my good? Just like when you told my wedding guests I wasn’t a virgin?” “You’re doing this for my good, knowing Maya has waited five years for this heart, and you lie to the doctors and cut the power during her transplant?!” “Are you doing this for my good? Or is your gambling debt due again, and you decided to pull another insurance scam, just like you did with Dad?!” The words spilled out of me, raw and unfiltered. I looked at this woman, this monster who claimed to be my mother. My senior year of high school, my father needed routine appendix surgery. It was supposed to be a standard procedure. But my mother insisted on feeding him a big bowl of clam chowder right before the ambulance arrived. During surgery, he aspirated the chowder into his lungs and died of pneumonia on the table. I rushed from my SAT exams to the hospital, arriving too late to even say goodbye. My mother’s first reaction wasn’t grief. It was dramatic narcissism. She threw herself onto the hospital lobby floor, screaming. “You’re trying to blame me?! I gave him soup out of love! He was hungry! You doctors just messed up and you’re trying to cover it up!” The hospital ended up giving her a settlement to avoid a public, nasty lawsuit. For years, she bragged to relatives about the money she “won.” She even boasted that her husband was fed before he left this world, unlike other “poor souls.” That was the reason I chose a college 2,000 miles away. I worked three jobs to pay my own tuition. I barely went home. It was my husband who insisted I invite her to the wedding, saying I might regret it. When Maya was born, my mother actually drove to our state, but when she found out Maya was born with severe heart defects, she turned around and went back to the train station without even seeing her granddaughter. For five years, she hadn’t made a single effort to see us. Until now, when she found out about the expensive transplant. I finally realized the truth. Her first instinct might have been pathologically lying just to lighten the mood. But when she saw an opportunity, she pulled the breaker. She wanted the surgery to fail due to a power outage, just so she could sue the hospital for a massive settlement, just like she did when my father died. The realization made my entire body go numb. Is this woman even human? Maya is her own granddaughter. How could she do this? Did I really have to legally sever ties with her to protect my family? I stared at her, my eyes cold. “Have you had enough, Susan? Have you had your fun?” “Because of you, the doctors don’t know if Maya actually ate. Because of you, the entire hospital is dark. Are you happy now?” A look of genuine panic finally appeared on her face. “No… Chloe… I didn’t mean it like that…” She reached out to touch my arm, but I recoiled as if she were a venomous snake. “Don’t touch me.” My voice was quiet, lethal. “This is the last time you will ever see me, or my husband, or Maya.” “And if Maya dies in that operating room because the backup generator failed… I will call the police myself and testify that you intentionally sabotaged this hospital. I swear to you on my father’s grave.” With that, I turned my back on her. I walked away, ignoring her hysterical screams from down the hallway.

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When Declan Pierce and I exchanged wedding rings, he had adult toys in his pocket meant for his young stepmother. To get back at him, I slept with his best friend on our wedding night. I deliberately left marks on my body. But when Declan saw the hickeys on my neck, he just casually dialed his best friend’s number: “Declan, your wife is incredible,” his friend laughed. “I’m already addicted.” Declan sounded completely indifferent: “You like her? How about sleeping with her again tonight?” Like a madwoman, I smashed his phone to pieces. For the next five years, we became the most notorious, hate-filled couple in high society. That was until he drove my family’s company into bankruptcy. My dad went to prison, my brother died in a car crash, and my mother, who used to dote on me, went insane overnight, hating me to the bone: “This is all your fault! If you hadn’t picked fights with Declan, the Kensington family would never have ended up like this!” “Why don’t you just die?!” That night, Declan pinned me under him, kissing the corner of my mouth fiercely: “Harper, whatever other tricks you have up your sleeve, bring them on.” My heart had finally turned to ash. The bottle of sleeping pills under my pillow pressed uncomfortably against my head. I was done fighting. This time, I planned to listen to my mother… …and go die. 01 My tears fell onto the pillow, but Declan didn’t notice at all. He roughly unbuttoned my pajama top: “Harper, you’ve been throwing tantrums for five years. It’s about time you learned to be obedient.” Obedient… My eyes shifted slightly. If it were the past, I would have shoved him away like a madwoman, slapped him twice, and told him I’d never give him a day of peace for the rest of his life. But now, just like he said, I had quieted down. I lay on the bed like a dead fish, letting him do whatever he wanted. Seeing my lack of reaction, Declan unusually stopped his movements. He frowned, a flash of surprise in his eyes. “Since when did you become so boring?” “You were pretty loud when you were in Rowan’s bed back then, weren’t you?” He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him, but his fingers met a patch of wetness. Declan’s fingers paused: “Why are you crying?” The scent of Vanessa’s perfume on him made me nauseous. I let my gaze fall on him. From his disheveled clothes to his bobbing Adam’s apple, to the lips that had just kissed me so aggressively, and finally, his eyes. Our eyes met, and I immediately looked away. I opened my mouth: “If you want to get off, hurry up. I want to go to sleep.” The hand pinching my cheek suddenly tightened. The teasing look in his eyes instantly darkened. “What did you say?” He was angry… But my throat felt tight. What is he angry about? Wasn’t I quieting down, exactly like he wanted? Declan stared at me darkly for a long time. The pressure on my face loosened as the seconds ticked by in silence. Finally, he sneered: “Harper, you really are full of tricks. You even learned how to play hard to get.” He got up and started fixing his clothes. A square box bulged in his pants pocket. Declan’s fingers paused, then he tossed the box in front of me, looking down from above: “Since you’re my wife in name, I suppose I owe you a little compensation for bankrupting your family.” “Harper, as long as you behave, the position of Mrs. Pierce is still yours.” When the gift box landed, its sharp corner hit my shoulder. It hurt a little. But I still didn’t move. I didn’t even look at it. Declan stared at me for a moment and scoffed coldly: “You brought this upon your family yourself, so you have to endure it. Stop giving me that dead-fish look.” “As for the gift, take it or leave it.” He grabbed his suit jacket and turned to leave. A long time after he was gone, I pulled the bottle of sleeping pills from under my pillow and stared at it blankly. When should I take them? Tomorrow night, I guess… Tomorrow is Mom’s birthday. I’ll go see her one last time. 02 The next day, I carried a cake to the psychiatric hospital. When I saw my mom, I forced a smile for her. “Mom, I came to see you.” Mom’s back stiffened on the bed. She ignored me. Holding back the bitter ache in my heart, I opened the cake box: “Mom, I came to celebrate your birthday today. The cake is strawberry flavored. It used to be your favorite.” “Get up and have a bite.” I spent four hours making it. Just one bite is fine, Mom. This is the last time, Mom… But before I could finish speaking, the back of my head felt heavy. The next second, my entire face was shoved into the cake. “Get lost!” Mom shoved me toward the door frantically. “Go die! Go join Leo in hell!” The thick cream smeared all over my face, sticky and suffocating, making it hard to even breathe. I opened my mouth to say something. “Mom…” I stumbled, shoved so hard by her that I crashed into the doorframe. Mom screamed hysterically: “Declan is sleeping with Vanessa! Couldn’t you have just pretended you didn’t know?! Why did you have to throw a tantrum and fight with him?!” “How did I give birth to such an ungrateful, worthless thing?!” “Harper, go die! Hurry up and die!” Tears finally fell uncontrollably. My hands were trembling. In the past, she loved me the most. She used to say… no matter what I wanted to do, the Kensington family would always have my back. But now, she hated me to the point of madness. She hated me enough to tell me to die. Was everything I did over these years really completely wrong…? I lowered my head, looking away, and it took a long time before I could speak: “Okay.” I’ll listen to you. I’ll go die. Perhaps the aura of death in my eyes was too heavy, because she actually quieted down for a second. The next second, with a loud bang, she slammed the door in my face. I stood stiffly outside the door for a long time before I found my strength again. Then, step by step, I dragged myself to the restroom to wash the frosting off my face. As the icy water splashed against my skin, I slowly regained some clarity. I stared at my face in the mirror, speechless for a long time. Maybe my decision to marry Declan all those years ago was a mistake to begin with. So now, this mistake should finally come to an end. It ends tonight. When I left the psychiatric hospital, it had started raining. I didn’t have an umbrella, and I couldn’t be bothered to call a cab. I walked alone in a daze for I don’t know how long. Just as I was completely soaked and feeling cold, a figure suddenly appeared in front of me. The rain instantly stopped hitting me. I looked up and saw Declan holding an umbrella, staring at me with dark, unreadable eyes. Through the glass window of the building beside us, I could see Vanessa, Rowan, and several of his close friends. 03 Declan pulled me into their private booth at the bar. “What, the great heiress Harper is bankrupt and can’t even afford an umbrella?” Rowan looked at me with a mocking smirk. “How about you sleep with me again, and I’ll buy you one?” Roars of laughter erupted around the booth. Someone nudged Rowan with their elbow, teasing: “Come on, man. Just how wild was Harper five years ago that you’re still obsessing over her?” “Declan, since you don’t care about her anyway, why don’t you let Harper entertain all of us? It’s not like we won’t pay.” The explicit, piercing insults came one after another. Declan sat in the booth, silent. After a long while, the corner of his mouth twitched: “Do whatever you want.” As soon as he said that, a chorus of hoots and jeers broke out. The smug smile on Vanessa’s face grew even more radiant, though she feigned glaring at them: “Alright, boys, enough. What kind of men bully a little girl?” She leaned close to Declan. “Speaking of which, I’m technically your mother-in-law. You’ve been married to Declan for five years, and I never gave you a welcoming gift.” As soon as she said that, Declan’s expression changed, his eyes even showing a hint of jealousy as he looked at Vanessa. If it were before, I would have definitely caused a massive, crazy scene in a situation like this. But now, all my fiery hatred and pride had burned out. I just wanted to end all of this quickly. I turned to leave, but Vanessa, who had stood up, grabbed my wrist. “Since we ran into each other today, I’ll give you the Pierce family’s heirloom jade bracelet.” With that, she slipped the bracelet off her wrist and pulled my hand to put it on me. The next second, the jade bracelet crashed to the floor and shattered! Vanessa stumbled back a few steps, stepped on nothing, and fell directly into Declan’s arms. The tears came right on cue: “Harper, I’m technically your mother-in-law in name. Even if you hate me, you shouldn’t have shoved me, let alone smash the family heirloom…” Her voice choked with sobs: “Declan, I think I sprained my ankle.” This trick again. Over the past five years, I don’t know how many times Vanessa had framed me like this. Her acting was clumsy, her excuses sloppy. But Declan always believed her. Unsurprisingly, this time was no different. Declan grabbed my wrist, his face dark. “Harper, are my methods still not harsh enough? Are you still completely unrepentant after everything?” “Apologize to Vanessa.” I lowered my eyes, my gaze falling on the hand he was using to grip me. “Okay.” I looked up at him: “How do you want me to apologize?” “Kneel? Grovel? Or service these guys…” I used to have sky-high pride, but now I felt that all these humiliations were nothing compared to dying. I continued, looking at his friends in the booth. “If you want me to service them, please make it quick. I want to go home before dark.” “Harper!” Declan violently threw my hand away. The atmosphere instantly fell into a dead silence. A long time passed before someone muttered: “Damn, she’s hardcore.” The voice wasn’t loud, but it was crystal clear in the quiet booth. “Enough.” Declan shot the man a dark, murderous glare. “Watch your damn mouth.” He stared at me for a long time, until Vanessa tugged at his shirt, crying: “Declan, my ankle hurts so much.” Declan finally snapped out of it, picked her up, and walked toward the exit. “I’ll take you to the hospital first.” Before leaving, he turned back to look at me for the first time after walking away, his eyes filled with obscure emotions. Not long after, a text message popped up on my phone. Declan: [Wait for me at home tonight. About today… I’ll listen to your explanation.] I gave a hollow smile. Declan, you want me to explain, but tonight… I’m destined not to wait for you. 04 Once Declan left, the others tactfully cleared out as well. I was the only one left in the booth. I stared at that text message for a while, then silently deleted it along with Declan’s contact info. Then I went home alone to organize my belongings. Piece by piece… When I reached the very bottom of a box, my hands suddenly stopped. It was a thick stack of old, un-sent love letters. I had written them to Declan when I was a teenager. Although Declan and I had an arranged marriage, no one knew that I had secretly loved him for many years. Even during the long, messy, and toxic period of our marriage, I hadn’t let him go. But now, looking at the bold, arrogant line on one of the letters: [Declan Pierce, just wait until I make you mine], it felt like a lifetime ago. Waste paper. Expressionless, I was about to throw them all into the trash can when a sudden force snatched them away. Rowan looked at the stack of love letters with a meaningful smirk. I was too exhausted to ask when he had entered the house. I just held out my hand blankly: “Give them back.” His eyes swept over the letters, his lips curling into a sneer: “You want them?” “Harper, so the reason you’ve been fighting tooth and nail with Declan all these years was because you harbored these dirty little feelings. But don’t worry… in Declan’s heart, you’re probably worth less than a dog.” His words sounded familiar. I suddenly remembered the year we got married, during a fight, the icy look in Declan’s eyes as he looked at me: “Harper, throwing all these tantrums, aren’t you just trying to get me to look at you more?” “But do you deserve it? To me, you’re just a dog wagging its tail, begging for pity…” I remained silent for a second. When I spoke again, my voice was as calm as stagnant water. “What exactly do you want?” Rowan reeked of alcohol. He smiled maliciously. “Harper… sleep with me one more time.” As he spoke, he opened the video recording app on his phone: “Look at the camera, let’s do it again.” Rowan forcefully pushed me onto the bed, speaking frivolously: “Actually, I’ve always regretted something. You moaned so well that first time, why didn’t I record it?” I felt completely numb and didn’t resist, but my hand gripped the bottle of sleeping pills under the pillow tightly. …… When Declan returned to his villa, he saw that I hadn’t replied to his text. There wasn’t even a routine curse word from me. He frowned: [Harper, I’m home.] [I told you the position of Mrs. Pierce is still yours. Don’t throw your heiress tantrums next time.] But the only response he got was the red exclamation mark showing he had been deleted. “Harper!” The next second, the pool of blood by the doorway violently pierced his eyes. Declan’s pupils shrank abruptly. He violently kicked open the bedroom door—

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It all started because my billionaire father smiled during a prime-time interview and said, “Honestly, the road to success has been incredibly smooth for me.” Those words hunted him down. A man twisted by extreme hatred for the rich broke into our home and beheaded him. He violated my mother, too. Hiding in the closet, I watched her emerald ring soaking in a pool of blood. I didn’t dare let a single tear fall. It was my boyfriend, Caleb Vance, who also happened to be my therapist, who pulled me out of that suffocating shadow. Until a movie hit the theaters, based entirely on my family’s tragedy. In this adaptation, my father was twisted into a corrupt, heartless capitalist. My mother was depicted as a homewrecking mistress. And I? I was portrayed as a vicious bully. The brutal, cold-blooded killer was whitewashed into a poor victim of circumstance, driven to desperate measures by poverty. On the night of the movie premiere, I went. I never expected to find out that the screenwriter was Caleb’s childhood sweetheart, Elara Vance. She smiled as she clung to Caleb’s arm, introducing him to the crowd: “This is the city’s finest psychologist, and the inspirational muse behind my film. He provided the incredible, raw material that allowed me to complete this masterpiece.” The theater erupted in thunderous applause. Ignoring Caleb’s look of absolute horror, I slowly raised my hand. “I have a question for this ‘muse’.” … Caleb’s face went completely rigid. He obviously hadn’t expected me to show up. I recognized the panic swirling in his eyes instantly. Two days ago, we had agreed to take a trip to a tropical island. The day before we were supposed to leave, he claimed an urgent crisis had come up at work. He apologized with such tenderness: “Rylee, just give me one day. One day.” “You go ahead. I’ll handle this and meet you there immediately.” I believed him. Until my best friend sent me a video link. There were Caleb and Elara, appearing together at the movie premiere. Striking an intimate pose, looking like lovers. Forgetting about the trip, I rushed here, only to watch a movie where my family was twisted into villains. Then, the realization hit me like a physical blow. He wasn’t busy. He just needed me out of town. Caleb’s eyes locked with mine. He immediately ripped his gaze away, not daring to look at me. So, he was capable of fear. Fear of me knowing. Fear of facing my fury. Yet he did it anyway. For Elara. I curled my lips in a bitter smile. “Dr. Vance, I’m just purely curious. As a psychologist, where exactly did you get the ‘real-life subject material’ you provided to Ms. Vance for this screenplay?” I wanted to hear his explanation. I was giving him one last chance. Caleb’s mind seemed to go blank for a second. The next moment, his voice was flat. “Just an experience of an old friend.” I stunned for a few seconds, then let out a low, bitter laugh. Caleb, I’m always the soft-hearted one, but thank God, you are far more ruthless than me. I was such a fool. I already knew the answer, yet I still wanted to hear how he would lie to me. Caleb saw my eyes turning red, and a note of worry crept into his voice. “I…” Suddenly, Elara’s slightly shrill voice cut him off. “What a wonderful question! It seems you are a deep admirer of our film. Why don’t I share the story of Caleb and I’s creative journey?” She started talking, completely self-absorbed. “The story in the movie was so heavy, I was stuck for the longest time, unable to put pen to paper.” “Until I met Caleb.” She turned her gaze to him, the adoration in her eyes thick and unmistakable. “As a top psychologist, he analyzed the raw, inner world of those suffering from PTSD for me. We explored the complexities of human nature, the boundaries of crime and punishment.” “He stayed up with me through countless late nights. Honestly, without him, this movie wouldn’t have a soul.” When she finished, she looked at Caleb with deep affection. Caleb glanced at me, then immediately pulled away as if burned, not daring to meet my eyes. Yet, he still nodded stiffly, playing along with Elara. The audience erupted in applause, mixed with envious whispers. “Oh my god, they’re soulmates!” I quietly stared at that face and laughed at myself. Six years of knowing Caleb, four years of being in love. Now, I was just an “old friend.” The scars I had once revealed to him in total trust had been served up to Elara. He used my wounds to please another woman. Chapter 2 When the applause died down, I forced myself to calm down. “Exploring human nature, analyzing psychology. That sounds so profound.” “But Dr. Vance, as a professional psychologist, using your patient’s private life as material for someone else—” I paused, my voice turning to ice. “Is that, perhaps, a violation of your professional ethics?!” As the words fell, the faces of the audience members, who had just been gushing over the “romance,” shifted. That’s right. Leaking a patient’s privacy was an absolute taboo for a therapist! The reporters reacted instantly, turning their cameras and microphones toward Caleb on the stage. “Dr. Vance, is what this young lady saying true?” “Did you really leak a patient’s private sessions to Ms. Vance to use as screenplay material?” Caleb panicked, frantically waving his hands, his voice pitching up. “No! No, that’s not right! Everyone is misunderstanding. This isn’t a patient’s private life!” Elara immediately chimed in, putting on a victim act. “This movie is adapted from actual social events. How could it be a patient’s private life? This young lady must be confused about something.” “Oh? Adapted from actual events?” I smiled. “Then can Ms. Vance tell everyone how you learned about these ‘actual events’?” Years ago, due to a massive error by the investigators, the killer almost got away. Because of that, the case was completely buried and never reported. Aside from Caleb as the source, Elara couldn’t have known. Elara froze, falling silent. She couldn’t say she heard it from Caleb, because that would confirm he leaked the information. She could only glare at me with venom. The air solidified. Elara looked to Caleb with a pleading expression. He took a deep look at me, seemingly having made some kind of decision. “The person involved was an old friend of mine. She didn’t want to be mentioned again, so I didn’t want to say much.” “Since this young lady is so persistent, I will clear this up.” My heart dropped. By instinct, he still chose to protect Elara. I had lost completely. “My old friend was deeply aware of the mistakes her parents had made. For years, she carried a massive moral burden, which led to severe depression.” “She came to me to pour everything out and begged me to find a way to make this matter public, to serve as a warning to the world. It was her way of seeking atonement for the victims.” He paused, pitching his voice up a bit, carrying an air of righteous indignation. “So, this was not a leak.” “Elara and I were simply helping a tragic girl achieve her self-redemption.” I stared at Caleb, dumbfounded. A sharp pain shot through my heart. I was so hurt I could barely breathe. After my parents’ brutal murder, I got sick. Depression. Living was more painful than dying. I swallowed sleeping pills, slit my wrists, and looked down from rooftops countless times. Every time, I was pulled back. Until one time, after getting my stomach pumped, the doctor couldn’t take it anymore and brought in Caleb. He told me, “You are a survivor, not a sinner.” Some people in life are like gifts. With his companionship, I was slowly healed. And now, his face had become just as repulsive as the killer’s from that day. I held back my tears, my voice shaking. “Caleb Vance, you truly have no soul.” “So righteous, aren’t you? Casting yourself as the big hero.” I let out an abrupt laugh, asking him with a raspy voice: “But you twist the truth and reverse black and white. When you’re asleep at night, does your conscience really never trouble you?!” Chapter 3 The crowd grew noisy. “What does she mean by that? Is she saying the movie is maliciously whitewashing a criminal?” “The depiction of the criminal in the movie did make me feel uncomfortable.” “Yeah, and the victims were so stereotypical, it felt like victim-blaming…” Hearing the whispers, Elara’s face flashed with panic, her grip on Caleb’s arm tightening slightly. Seeing this, Caleb’s eyes darkened. “Rylee Croft! Do you have to cause a scene out here?” “What happened to your parents was years ago. Why can’t you just let it go? Why do you insist on not letting them rest in peace!” I snapped my head up to look at him. The look in his eyes was one of disappointment, anger, and even a slight tinge of blame. There was not a single trace of the tenderness and heartbreak he once had. I was stunned. All those years, I thought of him as my salvation. In his most缱绻 (tender) voice, he had told me over and over again: “Rylee, don’t be afraid. You have me.” “Rylee, look. The sun is out. Let’s go out and get some sun, and I’ll read you poetry.” I blankly raised my hand and touched my face. The bitterness I had held back for too long had now coalesced into tears, crawling all over my face. Caleb saw my tears. He froze for a few seconds, and a look of pain flashed across his face. He instinctively raised his hand, as if wanting to wipe away the tears as he had countless times in the past. But he realized we were too far apart. He was on the stage, the center of attention. I was down here, isolated and helpless. He awkwardly dropped his hand. Across the noisy crowd, his lips moved, and though I couldn’t hear him, I understood clearly: Rylee, don’t make a scene. Let’s go home and talk. Hah. After he and Elara had pinned my entire family to a pillar of shame. Was there any “home” left between us? I curled my lips in a mocking smile, walked up onto the stage step by step, and faced Caleb. “My parents have been slandered as criminals who deserved to die. You are the ones not letting them rest in peace!” “Caleb Vance, if it were you, could you let it go?” His mouth opened, his Adam’s apple moving with difficulty. His voice was raspy. “Rylee, I’m doing this for your own good. What happened to your parents needs more attention. A truth is needed eventually.” Absurd. A short, sharp laugh escaped my throat. “The truth?” “Is the truth beautifying the crime and the killer while attacking the victims?” “Or is the truth slandering my parents, making my father a sweatshop boss, my mother a homewrecking mistress, and me a vicious bully who abused her classmates?” My voice suddenly went high. “Caleb Vance, does it taste good? Living off the blood of the dead?” The atmosphere around us solidified. Caleb’s shaking voice rang out. “Rylee, that’s not what I meant. I just got anxious earlier.” His eyes turned red, as if he truly was repenting. But the next second, he said urgently, “But this movie is very important to Elara. Nothing can go wrong. Rylee, just step back this once, okay?” “After this, we’ll get married.” I slowly looked up at him, burning tears slipping from the corner of my eyes. But I was laughing so hard my whole body was shaking. “Step back? How do you expect me to step back! You know how painful the last six years have been for me. You know!” Caleb heard my laughter, and his tone became impatient. “Then what exactly do you want?” “Do you want to destroy my career, destroy Elara’s most important work, before you’re satisfied?” His eyes were full of disappointment. “When did you become so unreasonable?” I froze on the spot. Looking at that face that once gave me so much peace, I suddenly found it frighteningly alien. “In your heart, her slandering my entire life is called ‘work’?” “And I, the victim you’ve trampled under your feet and sucked dry, I become the sinner?” My interrogation made his face even uglier. He avoided my gaze, not daring to look into my eyes again. Seeing this, Elara frowned, her tone full of disdain. “Ms. Croft, why are you speaking so harshly? Caleb and I are giving this matter more discussion, recording it through film.” The venom in her eyes flashed by. “You are so hopelessly disruptive. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you are that daughter who bullied her classmate and caused them to jump off a building.” So, Elara knew everything. She just wanted me to admit my identity and humiliate me publicly. Chapter 4 I had always hated Elara Vance. And she hated me. In front of my face, she would tell Caleb pointedly, “Caleb, pity isn’t love. Don’t be fooled by a patient.” I was already insecure, and she made it so I could never find peace. I had to confirm with Caleb over and over again: “Do you only pity me?” “Caleb Vance, will you one day abandon me?” Caleb would pull me into his arms with helpless adoration. “You silly girl, what are you imagining? How could I ever bring myself to leave you.” Now, he was standing against me, protecting another woman. So, it wasn’t that he couldn’t bring himself to leave. It was just that the person he couldn’t leave was not me. I met Elara’s malicious gaze and smiled. “Yes, I am that person. The daughter in the movie.” Her grin froze. She hadn’t expected me to admit it so easily. Immediately, she smiled again, faking surprise. “Oh dear, so Ms. Croft really is that bully.” The venue exploded. “Ms. Croft, was your father really a cold-blooded capitalist? Was your mother really a mistress?” “Ms. Croft, was your family’s tragedy retribution for you bullying others?” The reporters were incredibly excited. But they weren’t trying to find the truth. They wanted a gimmick, a shocking headline. The crowd surged forward. I was pushed down to the ground with massive force, my head hitting the floor hard. Buzz! The world instantly went silent. As the room spun, twisted, magnified faces blurred before my eyes, merging with the face of the demon from deep in my memory. I was back in that blood-colored afternoon, pinned inside the closet by my parents. Through that narrow crack in the door, I saw— My father on the ground, his head a bloody mess. My mother pushed to the ground, her skirt violently torn open, the demon’s face turning depraved. When her eyes met mine, they instantly filled with resolve. She actively thrust the knife in the crazed robber’s hand into her own heart. Then, step by step, she dragged herself through the blood covering the floor, crawling to the closet. Using her body to block that crack in the door, blocking the demon’s searching gaze. Blood seeped in, inch by inch, warm, thick… “Ah!” I clutched my head and let out a scream, my body shaking uncontrollably. That suffocating feeling of being close to death returned. The crowd was terrified by my reaction. They stopped pushing forward and backed away with strange looks on their faces. I finally got some breathing room. “Rylee!” Caleb noticed something was wrong. His face changed dramatically, and he tried to rush over to help me. “Don’t touch me!” I violently took a step back to avoid him. His hand froze in mid-air, his face full of hurt and disbelief. I raised my head, staring at him with blood-red eyes. “Is it fun? Turning everything I told you into gossip to tell her?” Caleb’s face turned slightly red, looking as if he were embarrassed or angry. “Rylee Croft!” “Not everyone is like you, always twisting every ounce of goodwill into malice.” I dully dragged myself up and said to him, one word at a time: “Caleb Vance, is it that hard to treat people with the same sincerity you started with?” “How did the old me not realize you were actually this disgusting.” His eyes began to dodge mine. This reaction fell into the eyes of the crowd, looking meaningful. “Now it really does look like Ms. Croft is the one being bled dry.” “I knew this movie was wrong. That’s a murdering demon; why are they whitewashing him?” “Exactly. And putting him right in the middle of the promotional poster. Their intentions are way too obvious.” The whispers of doubt grew louder. Elara completely panicked. Her voice went sharp as she screamed, “Don’t believe her! She’s crazy!” “She’s a patient of Caleb’s. She has a delusional obsession with him, and now she’s fabricating all this to destroy us!” The crowd frowned, barely able to keep up with the reversals. Elara shook Caleb’s arm urgently. “Caleb, don’t play along with her. You’ve done more than enough. She’s trying to destroy us!” “Don’t you have her medical records for her delusions? Stop being soft-hearted! Tell everyone the truth, everything I said is true!” In an instant, everyone’s gaze concentrated on Caleb Vance. After a long silence, he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, all emotion had faded, leaving only indifference. He looked at me and said quietly: “Yes. She… is suffering from severe delusions. She is one of my patients.” “She has been obsessively harassing me…”

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